Rising Tide Part II: Burning Rave
by xxbloodsweattearsxxx
Summary: "Gaulle said it best," Jacob stated, drawing himself to tower ominously over me. I couldn't suppress my cringe this time. "Graveyards are full of indispensable men. The skin is decaying...Only the soul cannot die...And yours belongs to ME."
1. Prologue

**A/N: Part II is the direct continuation from Rising Tide: Jacob Black. It happens days after. My plan is to take Rising Tide into a different direction. All the mistakes, the problems with Part One I made, I'm hoping to fix with Part II.**

**As with any story, there will be new characters in addition to the old. Yes, Bella and Edward Cullen will be featured in this story, but they will come later on. If you come here after reading Part I, you'll remember that this is not so much Bella's story as it is Jacob's. This is the alternate direction of his life had he not imprinted on Renesmee. And my fictional counterpart of Jacob Black from Meyer's has been through much more than I anticipated. Through death and back.**

**For those of you who read this going like "This story says Jacob, and there's no Jake, wtf mate?" I ask for a little patience. If you read between the lines, you'll see that Jacob is very present in this story and will continue to be.**

**Thank you for all your support and all the reviews I've had, both good and bad. Writing is something I love to do, and if it entertains people in the process, then I'm all for it.**

**Let's get this pah-tay stahted! **

Rising Tide Part II: Burning Rave

Continuation from _Rising Tide: Jacob Black_

_We all have to walk through that abysmal black tunnel of hopelessness to find the light at the end._

I remember...It was afternoon. Washington getting sun. How rare was that? Once in a blue moon, and if the moon could represent moods, maybe a blue moon would be a perfect fit. The afternoon's orange sun rays burned my eyes as they peaked through the tiny crevices between the trees. The battle seemed to be over. The Volturi had been run off. I knew that. I could see and smell only a few figures ahead of me.

My pace was too fast for Seth behind me.

"Leah!" He called from a distance. I ignored him.

"Leah! Come on!" Seth called again, even further away as I batted off a branch in my way that opened the scenery. There was the crowd of black surrounding a fallen figure. I gripped the 'key' to my chest. It was a key to me. It was what made Jacob Black what he was before he...died. The minute Seth closed his eyes for him, I knew it was over. I knew his heart was still and silent and perhaps utterly destroyed. There was probably no way to save him. Under Paul's 'order' I gave the area a clean sweep. But there was no sign of the vampires that wanted so desperately to kill the youngest Cullen. Not even a corpse. They must have escaped. We ran them off, but that surely didn't mean that they were gone forever. No, far from it .

That wasn't my problem then. I couldn't take my eyes off Jacob's face. The way he looked. A long time ago, my Dad once said that those who die peacefully, have a smile on their face. Their souls are taken from their body effortlessly. And then there are the others. The ones who sinned...or perhaps lead a life filled with pain and tragedy. There is no smile on their face.

Jacob wasn't smiling.

The crowd of Cullens parted when I was near enough and I knelt behind Jake's body. There was talk of moving it. I wasn't going to have that, obviously.

A few drops of the purple liquid dripped on his wet jacket from the point as I brought it up. I couldn't believe what I was doing. I don't know at all what I was doing. Whether it was saving Jacob or not. Could it have done more damage? Could it bring this lifeless body light again?

_What more harm could there be done?_

"Don't," The musical intonation of this voice startled me and I jumped a little to see Edward Cullen standing away from his family in front of the house a few feet away. I could hear my breath catch while he watched me, those curious golden eyes boring into mine. Behind him was Blushing Bella herself cradling the monster child that started this whole thing, not truly paying attention to us. Perhaps she was comforting the baby.

I don't know why looking at Bella did it. I don't know what came over me, but suddenly I felt a violent desire to do what I came here to do. Edward was still looking at me and when my eyes met his again, he spoke.

"You don't know what will come of it,"He said. "If it'll be the same. If it'll be the same...at all... anymore,"

That's all he said. That's all he needed to say. Because I knew where he was going with it. I didn't know what would happen. I had watched some of Jacob's humanity shed already from this...but I also know Rachel said he was close enough to death before he was taken to Italy... True, perhaps one could say he died heroically.

But I didn't have to be an idiot to see what had been happening in him.

And past Edward it was Bella's face that got me going again. She was smiling, obviously. I didn't detect a single piece of sadness...Did this one not learn how to mourn or at least pretend to mourn? What about Jacob? Did this whole ordeal mean nothing? But I realized …

Jacob was the only casualty in this.

Edward sighed, a resigned look. One that clearly spoke of a weary person. Funny, I didn't know the vampires got sleepy, but he seemed to be. He gave me glance which clearly said:

_"If you must."_

"I love you, Jake," I whispered, lowering my head so I could whisper in his ear. Drawing back, I plunged the needle into the mass of wetness at the front of his shirt into the very core that started his darkness.


	2. Awakening

(I apologize for taking forever to update this. Real life circumstances make it damn near impossible to get online. I will try to update this as much as possible, given any time contributed towards it is me writing it by hand.)

**Awakening**

In the swirl of black I saw a few things. There were many faces. Merging as one that I had to note was one ugly person. They glided around me, swirling in and out of my line of sight. I'd follow one, only to find another begging my eyes to lock on to it instead. These faces were familiar, but at the moment, I couldn't recall their names. Eventually they danced like fire in a ring around me. I could see the repetition, each one leaving a transparent train of their flesh color wherever they last were until everything faded.

I felt...frightened. For the first time in what had to be a long time, I was afraid of these faces. These faces were not laughing nor did any of them seem remotely evil as they peered down at me. They were stone blank. And it was their emptiness that alarmed me, made my blood run cold. Some lone insignificant part of my brain connected how unusual that was...Blood. ...It was important somehow. Very vital to...something. Me? Maybe.

Eventually the faces disappeared and I was left alone in the blackness. I couldn't conjure up much there ...Who I was...Where I was...Perhaps this was Death. True, I couldn't relive much, but one thing I do remember was pain. Burning, excruciating pain...It filled my entire body, destroyed everything I was. I don't remember where it started but just the memory of it made me wince. It must have been death. I must have died. Because now there was no pain, just the memory of it.

There was something familiar...

Someone...Someone...someone important...had once told me once that when you go to face judgment in the face of God, you are alone, with nothing at all. And it is God who recalls the memories for you and judges you based upon your actions during your lifetime. As you stand before Him, you cannot help but be so scared of His presence, that recalling your memories is almost automatic. But before that, you are left with nothing. Your best friend could be one side of you, your Mother on the next, and you wouldn't recognize either. You were utterly alone.

Perhaps this was that. I felt like I could wait an eternity in fear for the inevitable judgment that would pass on me...And the fear would never lessen, never quiet. It would always be as intense as when it first began.

Where was everyone? Suddenly I missed the faces that had just been swirling around me. Already the memory of them was beginning to fade. I forgot what they looked like, I just remember it happening. If you asked me now to give a detailed description of how they looked, I wouldn't be able to tell you for any one of them.

It was so cold...I felt my body...I wasn't naked as I half expected to be. But I wasn't ashamed if I had been either. On the contrary, I was wearing a white tank top and torn-at-the-knees jeans with black boots that would have made loud thudding noises when I walked. I was surprised by the whiteness of the tank. It was usually stained...with what, I couldn't recall just then.

I stopped cross examining myself and looked up. There was nothing but blackness, stretching far beyond the eye could see. My vision...It was stronger then...other people, wasn't it? But this darkness stretched for miles and miles...and nowhere could I see a glimpse of light in any direction.

I tried to rack my brains. A name...a place...Anything. I knew this language speaking my head, but I couldn't even discover the source of that...I don't know where it came from, I just knew how to speak it, how to think it. I didn't know anything else. Beyond the last pain...I remember nothing...

Perhaps I should have started with that. This time when I pulled the memory of the agony to the surface, I felt something small sting in my chest area. It hurt. But it vanished just as quickly as it came. Suddenly I was seizing the front of my tank and pulling it a few inches in front of my body. The stain. I remembered why the cleanliness of this clothing shocked me.

Blood. I was usually _covered_ in blood.

This revelation rocked my frame to the core. I wanted to collapse and hope that pain didn't come back. I just wanted it to be over. I didn't want that memory to push unto my psyche again. I didn't want to relive it. I didn't want to stand and be judged and be forced to summon my memories from inside my mind. Somehow that didn't seem very comforting. I had a feeling, even for the Big Guy, reliving my life wouldn't be pleasant.

Something switched on. A distant white light like a flashlight or a flickering bulb began blinking directly in my line of sight. I tried to ignore it, but the persistent flashing seemed to grow with my indifference to it. All right! I get it.

Suddenly I was bestowed with the knowledge that this light was not something I should run away from or recoil from. There was_ nothing _to be afraid of with the light. The light was the guide and without it, the world would be covered in shadow with people blindly trying to find their way and having no luck. The light was not an enemy.

I began to walk towards it, feeling a familiar heat sensation well up in my chest where the earlier sting of pain was. There was a _pull_ in the light, drawing me closer, making my feet quicken their pace automatically. The light became bigger. Clearer in my eyes, the more I came upon it. Eventually it surrounded me, cleared out the darkness until everything became a blinding white opposed to the shrouding black.

And then I heard strange mumblings around me. I looked above, like I was searching for some new corners in this endless white. Like it was simply a white room instead of white...nothing. The mumblings were incoherent but loud...louder...louder. Louder.

And then pain began. But it wasn't the same pain. It started at midriff. Before I could look down at it, my hands caught me. They...

They flickered. Transparency to the white below. My mouth opened feebly in shock as I brought them eye level. I could see the white through them! The flickering traveled to my arms, my elbows, all the way up to my shoulders. My head started to hurt. Ache and throb. I wanted to yell but it felt...different then a normal headache. It felt like someone had grabbed a handful of my hair and was tugging as hard as they could. I started to yell, but whoever was pulling had a giant hand. I was unexpectedly suctioned as though from a tube to the top...the ceiling? The roof. Something. It was a crippling sensation like my limbs were curling into me in impossible angles. I felt my feet leave the white floor and zoom towards the top...

_Every night of my life I watched Angels fall from the sky. I go to bed and pray that they won't be mine. _

I felt...pain. Irreversible, irrevocable pain in my chest. Burning...black as night... It scorched at the heart of all things, searing to no end. I didn't know where it started and where it ended...Whether it was at the top or the bottom, the left or the right... But it was there, with no denial or escape from it. I felt little spasms of feeling here and there return. And when I could, I used them. My fingers curled and uncurled until eventually I was able to dig my nails into my palms and feel the fresh course of blood pour out and stain whatever was underneath me. Yes, I was lying down, but this didn't comfort me. I could have been sleeping on a pillow for all that lying down mattered. Feeling hadn't returned to my face. I couldn't open my eyes. But I wanted to. I wanted to see the pain and stop it.

Somebody.._.Someone_...help me...

When feeling returned to my ears, I was relieved. I could hear, get a sense of what was going on around me. I expected silence...I expected solitude, but the murmur of voices dancing at the edge of my eardrums became frighteningly clear. These voices were _not_ in the same room as me, I knew that...somehow.. But they may as well have been with how clear they were to me.

The deep male voice, unfamiliar, but with a bitter edge to it was speaking though his words were clear, they came out broken like I was tuning in on a radio with bad frequency.

"...might as well add another...harboring corpses in your dad's...should be ashamed...forgot you don't have what they call...conscience."

A female. Also unfamiliar. "...don't have to listen...no one asked you...with my family is my business...don't have to like it...he...not be buried until I say...means you keep the ...of my house...have a problem with how I_ handle_ things."

Feeling returned from my ears. I felt them ringing, possibly red. Feeling felt like coarse water flooded with something that increased the viscosity, thickening it. It spread slowly to my cheeks, where I felt them flush and scald as though the feeling was embedded with steaming hot water. It spread towards my lower jaw, simultaneously reaching down my throat and up my forehead. I would be able to move now...

But of course the moment feeling returned to my lips, all I could do was scream.

I knew it shattered the very foundation of conversation going on somewhere near me. I heard footsteps closing in on my position. How many? I didn't know. I didn't care. The steaming hot water reached my eyeballs and I snapped them open. All my vision saw was blinding...blinding...

Blinding red. There was a sick sound like spiders scuttling, except I felt the source of it tickling underneath and around my eyelids. I felt my body reflexively jerk up when feeling returned to it. Like the pain in my chest was sending feeling instead of blood through my veins. My haze of red travelled down to what was causing me so much agony. So much unbearable pain.

There it was, half a basketball sized gaping hole in my upper torso, gushing torrents of blood that oozed down my stomach. And that...thing. That _sick_ thing...had to have been blown apart. There was a great chunk of it, beating _hard _against my chest while another half of it dangled uselessly inside my ribcage. I stopped screaming to let a soft sob of horror choke it off. What..._was_ this? My shaking fingers moved without me even aware of them towards it as my back slid upward trying to sit up.

Just then the door flew open and three figures stood facing me. All with brown skin, brown eyes and jet black hair. One female, shorter than the other two. One really small in age, but not in size, and another , clearly the eldest and bulkiest. They remained motionless for a half second, watching me with identical expressions of shock and utter disbelief. Then they bolted for me. I felt strong, overwhelmingly hot hands seize my own wrists and press me down against the bed. I fought them, naturally. But he was too strong.

"Jacob!" This strong male shouted in my face. "Calm down!"

I glowered at him, feeling fire rise to my face. His eyes remained on mine, tightening their grip on my wrists until I felt my circulation cut off. He turned a fraction of an inch towards the other two behind him. " You gunna stand there or are you gunna help me? Hold him down!"

The other two scrambled to obey. The girl fastened my legs with one arm in a locked grip and the smaller kid circled the bed to capture my face between his hands in another iron hold. How? She seemed to be asking the same thing, except about something else.

"How?" She screamed to the guy holding my wrists. "How is he even alive?"

"That doesn't matter! Hold him down, I'm going to put some morphine into him!" The other retorted.

But through my panic, I registered this clearly enough and when he released me, I didn't let her touch me to get anything.

"_**Don't touch me!"**_

I knocked her fingers away, felt my retinas lock with the younger boy holding my face and plunged my fingers into my own wound.

I felt sick. I wanted to vomit, but I felt like in all my chest exposure, I'd throw up something I need. My fingers weren't steady. They shook as they probed around for the piece of lacerated organ. But eventually, I found it and squeezed it hard against the meat of my heart. In other words, the bigger chunk of it. Almost instantly, the massive blood loss ceased. I kept telling myself if I can stay awake or even alive a few more seconds, I might be able to heal when the organ mends. I felt a heated wrist tug on my own elbow but I didn't budge. I'm performing surgery on myself, using fingernails as the hospital tools.

I willed my fingers to stop shaking with sheer force. The next thing to do was the hardest, control my breathing. I did it. Finally a moment passes. The strangers continually address me by that Jacob name that holds no meaning to me when I feel the two ends of my heart finally fuse together and beat once underneath my blood filled palm.

I let a soft groan, gurgled with blood and saliva escape my lips when I fell backwards. The three around me exchanged alarming expressions before one of them—the girl—caught me before I touched the thin mattress. Her brown eyes met mine.

"Leah...," The strong man, who had released me said warningly, watching her. My vision started getting hazy, swimming in and out of focus.

She didn't look at him, she looked at me.

"Leah...," I murmured softly. "That's a pretty name."

"Jake...," She responded, releasing an arm to touch my face. It was her hot brush across my cheek that was the last thing I felt before unconsciousness engulfed me.


	3. Dilemma

**Dilemma**

"_So, you're still alive,"_

"Rise and shine," Someone said above me. I opened my eyes to a disturbingly bright light shining right in my face. Reflexively, I raised my hands to my eyes and began to sit up. The one who had spoke, the kid...was by my bedside and when I moved to sit up, he stood away and took a hot grip on my shoulder which I almost felt like shaking off because of how burning it was. But that felt rude. He seemed to be pushing me back onto the pillows behind me.

"Easy, easy," He was saying. "Steady man, don't push yourself."

_Don't push __**me.**_

I obeyed him, ignoring the violent, hostile thought that came at his touch. I felt my back hit the pillows again and I was able to see the kid for the first time. He had short black hair, a slightly muscular build which puzzled me given he had to be a little older than fifteen maybe. His skin was brown complected, and his eyes were brown. He smiled when he saw my scrutiny.

"Welcome back," Was all he said.

He kept on smiling. I narrowed my eyes on his face. "Who're you?"

Something like confusion crossed his features but he recomposed his face. "Seth." He answered. "Seth Clearwater."

The name rang no bell. "Interesting."

He was still frowning at me. He stood up from his seat, watching my eyes, I assumed. "You mind excusing me for a second?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Are you a doctor?"

The corners of his lips twitched. "No. But you're safe here. I promise you that."

I wanted to laugh. But I didn't, he was already leaving the room. As soon as I saw his retreating back hit the corner, I moved to sit up again, feeling my sore back. I wondered why I was hospitalized. Every inch of me ached as though I had been exercising every single muscle in my body. I flexed my arms, they screamed in protest past my elbow. I twitched my toes, feeling strange that they still had feeling in them given how long they had been lying still. It had to be a while. I had to have been in this bed over a week at least.

Finally, Seth came back with a girl, taller than him by half a foot. She was absolutely gorgeous. A heart shaped face surrounding deep brown eyes and full red lips. Though now, her upper row of teeth were cutting into her lower lip and she was giving me an odd, speculating look while her thin eyebrows came together in what had to be complete and utter contempt. She was wearing close-fitting light blue jeans and a tight, long-sleeved shirt that clung to her slender body tastefully. She could be Seth's sister, I thought. She probably was.

"Hi?" I said uncertainly, hearing my voice rise an octave. It came out a question.

She glared at me with unwavering menace and revulsion. It surprised me the magnitude of it, like she couldn't stand the sight of me. Maybe she couldn't. She approached and I felt like recoiling but some age old instinct told me not too. The other half of me was well aware the power this woman had over me. She knew what had happened to me, meanwhile I knew nothing. She didn't look like a doctor, but even through all her blazing fury, I could see she had the answers.

"What's your name?" She broke her penetrating gaze from mine and stared fixedly at a stain on the wall, I assumed. Still with that same expression.

I hesitated, paused and thought. Nothing came in that moment, no matter how hard I tried to rack my brains for something familiar…It was like there was this vast empty space inside my head like one would get when one tried with effort to clear their mind. Except I required no effort at all for this vast canvas of nothing.

"Um…," I began. "I…I don't know."

She snapped her gaze on me like a cobra striking. This time I did flinch. "I'm not playing games with you. What's your name?"

I gaped at her. "I really don't know it."

"What's the last thing you went by?" She asked.

"I don't know,"

"What's your Mother's name?"

"I don't-"

"You're father's name?"

"I-"

"When's your birthday?"

"Where are you from?"

"Where were you before this?"

"How old are you?"

She never let me finish. The moment I opened my mouth, she'd shut me down. I blinked and lunged forward in my place interrupting her question midway about where I lived. "I don't _know_, okay?"

She stopped, pursed her lips and that fury returned to her expression. But mingled in the fury was…something else. Disappointment almost. Deeper in those depths was a hurt so big, that even I couldn't comprehend.

"Well, that won't do," Seth finally spoke, breaking the silence. The girl didn't look back at him. "We have to call you something while you're staying here with us."

That surprised me. I broke my gaze from her and looked at him. "What do you mean, 'staying here'? Where is...here?"

"Well, we can't put you out on the street, now can we?" Seth remarked rhetorically. The girl's expression clearly looked like she'd rather me be on the street. "This is our house. The golden center of La Push, Washington. Not too bad, is it?"

I surveyed him for a startled moment. Washington? A vague memory of the US of A map sprang to mind from some withered text book. That was far. He was still watching me...I answered slowly. "No, I guess not."

"Excellent, so you're staying here," Seth concluded. He pointed to the girl. "This is Leah. She's my big sister."

I wanted to say it was nice to meet her, but she looked ready to snap. Her thin frame was rocking with tremors that she seemed to be barely controlling.

"And we'll call you Nick," Seth was saying, forcing my gaze away from Leah. "It was the name of my best friend in Elementary School. It suits you well."

Just then Leah turned to glare at her younger brother with those small fists balled up like she did not approve of this suggestion. But Seth was looking at me nodding.

"We'll tell everyone you're our cousin, Nick. So it saves the questions. And it kind of suits with the resemblance," Seth continued.

The resemblance? I looked away from the sibling pair momentarily to catch a reflection of myself on the metal bars strapped to this…gurney. I did, indeed, look like them. My hair was short and black. Slightly wiry and unkempt. My eyes were a deep brown color just like Seth's and my cheekbones were high. I very well could have been a cousin to them with that matching russet copper tone to my skin.

"Okay," I said, agreeing. Nick. I could deal with Nick.

"Nick," Seth said, closer to me. He pushed me back to the bed with that curiously hot hand again. I hit the pillows and looked at the pair of them. Leah was giving me a death stare again. But Seth was gentle. "Get some sleep, Nick. There are a lot of people that want to meet you tomorrow. You need to get as much rest as you can before that."

"Really?" I said out loud. Who wanted to meet me so badly? Who even knew besides these two I was here? I tried to strain my ears for any noise outside of this room. It was simple with its sand colored walls, and sand colored tiles with only the door and this gurney to stand out. There was no noise. No one else was here, at least I didn't think so.

"Really," Seth replied, beginning to adjust something with a needle beside my bed. I heard a little click and felt something cold seeping into my blood stream. My eyes became droopy as I swiveled my eyeballs to see Leah and Seth, two brown blurs that became fuzzy with each blink. Eventually the drowsiness seeped in and I felt…heard, nothing more.

It felt like only five minutes I was waking up from a dreamless sleep. My eyelids felt heavy and it took a moment to settle on what had woke me up because it surely wasn't my own natural self.

Voices surrounded me, but my eyes didn't adjust to the blackness easily. I could hear and feel another presence on the gurney. Seth, his head was resting by my still arms. How uncomfortable for him. But the voices outside grew louder and my head ached some more.

"Wow…That's just…wow," A hardened male voice was saying.

"Unbelievable? Hard to comprehend? Believe me, I know," This one I recognized to be Leah. "I thought it was an act at first too. But now I'm not so sure."

"And he didn't even know when you asked him his name?"

"I asked that twice, he didn't know both times. Seth gave him some weird replacement…. his best friend_ Nicky_ from fifth grade."

"He named him Nick?" A throaty chuckle. "and he accepted it? Wow."

"He accepted it. I think he doesn't remember anything about himself…His past…What his name is…What he's done… All of that."

"That's depressing,"

There was a silence where I somehow imagined Leah was seething before replying. And indeed, her voice came out barely controlled when she answered him.

"I know…But Seth wants to keep him here while Mom's with Charlie. I'm not obligated to say no. Seth doesn't even seem to mind he's taking up the empty game room we were going to use for a guest room."

"Seth wants him here, huh?" The male's voice was questioning and then he utilized a lower pitch in inquiry. "And you? Do _you_ want him here?"

"Is that a rhetorical question?" Leah asked tightly.

"Not at all. I'm absolutely serious. Given everything that's happened in the last few months, do you honestly blame me for questioning your actions?"

"I'm guessing you're going to anyway,"

Another silence. It was clear Leah wasn't going to answer the initial question that this deep-voiced male was looking for. I heard him sigh deeply.

"What am I supposed to tell Billy?"

"Does he know I have him?"

"What? Of course not. He'd be devastated. He'd want to see him for himself. And I'd be obligated to show him. He is his-"

_"Keep your voice down!_" Leah hissed.

"He'd want to see him, Leah,"

"Then by all means, explain to him, Paul. No one's stopping you. Explain everything. But if you blow this thing up in his face with your stories and your bullshit,so help me God, I will throttle you. You understand that? Right now, I really don't know if that boy in there is who he thinks he is. I don't…know if what once was will be again…He's alive. In some form or another, and that's what matters."

''That's _all_ that matters," This Paul stated, but it sounded more like he was correcting her.

"I'm speaking for Nick too," said Leah.

"Already on first name terms," said Paul mockingly. "That's adorable. I can't wait to tell Rachel how you-"

"Shut up," Leah advised. There was another chuckle and the sound of footsteps. The creak of a door opening.

"And Leah…," Paul had paused in the act of leaving, probably turned around to talk to her. "It's left him too, hasn't it?"

Whatever this meant…Leah didn't seem to be keen on answering because I heard nothing more than the continual footsteps and the gentle close of a front door. The line of light I saw from the doorstep turned off. In the blackness, confusion swirled around my head mingled with sleepiness. I fell asleep quickly enough.

I knew I was dreaming. It didn't feel real. I was walking in a field of flowers with the sun burning down my back. Endless flowers leading up to this tall tree. A typical setting of…peace, I think. With a sunny day, a perfect setting…a lone figure heading towards it. The scene was meant to exemplify calm and serenity and so it did.

But there was something wrong with me. Some dread that was building inside of me. I didn't want to go to that tree yet…There was something beyond there. Even though I should have been sure that it was just another stretch of field beyond it, I knew it wasn't. If I walked past it now, there was no going back. I would never be able to come to this place again.

These thoughts brought a change of weather. The sun dissolved behind storm clouds gathering above the horizon. I felt an icy splash touch my scalp and then lightning struck the ground several times, disturbing the earth there.

"_Enough."_

The voice was peculiar, and it sounded like it came from the heart of the storm. It sounded…like me, except it was twisted with authority and anger.

"What's enough?" I retorted, unafraid.

Nothing answered me. I watched the storm clouds begin to part, not leaving the normal cloud cover behind it, but white. The dream was coming apart like fragments of broken glass falling to pieces.

"_Not enough."_

The shattered pieces of my surroundings started flying all around me, surprisingly like shards of sharp glass cutting my skin, grazing it and letting it bleed where it whisked. I couldn't see, I almost couldn't hear past the roars of the gusty wind.

But I did hear _him_ one last time…His voice was swollen and ravaged with defeat.

"…_was never enough."_

I woke up panting, bolt upright in my bed, gripping my white tank top tightly. My heart felt like it was going to explode out of my chest and keep beating, more freely on the cold floor. Seth wasn't here, and by the little rays of light coming from the ajar door, I figured it was daytime now. I panted while sweat beaded on my forehead and began to trail down the side of my face.

I buried my head in my hands. My thoughts lingered on the steady fading dream and then to the conversation I eavesdropped on last night that was decidedly clearer in memory than my...nightmare. What was I? Some stray they found with amnesia? That's what it sounded like, and reflecting back on the little scene with Seth and Leah last night, that's how it looked. I couldn't for the life of me...remember...anything. The kid and his sister were nice to give me a name. Nice to be sympathetic...Nice to take me in. But the point was, I didn't know these people. I didn't know why they were taking pity on me, giving me shelter and taking care of me. I clearly had no wounds to take care of. I don't even know what happened to me before all this.

Just who was I...?

And who the_ hell_ was Billy?

I needed answers, not more drugging.

"Oh, you're awake," said someone from the door. I looked up to find Leah standing there, leaning against the doorway. She still had the same hostile expression from last night, except there was a weary touch to it that told me this girl had gotten little to no sleep last night.

"Yeah," I answered, not sure what else to say.

"Well, if you can walk, get up. We're going to Embry's for breakfast," She said remotely, like she was talking to a wall. I swung my legs off the right side of the bed and touched the floor hesitantly with my toes. Icy cold, expected. When I looked up, Leah had gone. That was expected too. I stood up and felt my back crack along with some other cracks running down to my knees. I felt stiff. Overslept, obviously.

Leah was back and handing me a blank white t-shirt and some jeans that looked a little short.

'These were my Dad's. You can borrow them for now," She pressed them to my hands without looking at me, only at her hands, as though she was scared my touch on her might….do something.

"Careful," I said before I could stop myself. "You might catch something."

She raised her eyes to mine and I saw venom flaring there. Her teeth were bared. In a swift movement she slapped me across the face. It was a good, hard slap, that I knew must have taken all her strength. It snapped my head to one side where I felt a burning pain flame where her five fingers and palm had touched on my cheek.

I started to turn back to her, raising my own fingers automatically to touch the area. She was still glaring at me, but beneath that boiling face was something that glistened like triumph in her expression. As if slapping me was something she had wanted to do for a long time and now she had finally given me some measure of justice.

"Wha-" I began.

"Don't you _dare_-" She also started dangerously.

"Leah! Nick! You're going to be late! Come on! Or I'll start driving!" Seth's voice, distant but clear from the outside. Incidentally, I heard the Beep! Beep! of a car outside.

Leah looked at me for another long moment, her expression unchanging. Then she glanced at the clothes on my lap and then the door. She turned on her heel and headed straight for the door, saying not another word as she disappeared from sight.


	4. Meeting

**Meeting**

It was a few minutes later when I was fully dressed in the Clearwaters' SUV staring out the window from the backseat. Seth was waiting for me to call shotgun, but I didn't. I didn't want to further awkward the moment with Leah. It was sunny and for that I was grateful, even though it somehow reminded me of my blurry dream from last night.

"So who's all at this party?" I asked Seth. He opened his mouth to answer but it was Leah who intervened.

"It's not a party," She grunted. "It's just breakfast and we're going with a few friends of ours."

"Who want to meet me?" I gathered. She didn't answer that and I didn't feel compelled to press her. Her expression from the rear-view mirror didn't look very promising.

We passed several houses and I couldn't help but notice that this was a very rich…but stagnant neighborhood with each house mirroring the last one except a different color. All with stretched windows indicating only one story homes. Eventually, Leah halted the black SUV at a shabbier rundown dark brown house near the end of the west street corner. Outside there was already some people standing on the front lawn of it. Each of them bore a striking resemblance to Seth and Leah. Was everyone here related or something? What was going on? I had to note that none of them were wearing shorts either, just cut-off jeans and black sneakers.

The tallest one was the one who came onto the pavement to the side of the car where Leah had stuck her head out the window a fraction. "Hey there."

I recognized his voice. This was Paul from last night. He had a wide set face with high cheek bones and thick eyebrows that looked like they would form one if he ever got angry. And I was pretty sure that he got angry often. He noticed my gaze and locked onto it. It wasn't angry or disgusted like Leah's, but there was definitely a level of mistrust there.

Seth broke the silence as usual and exited the car, approaching Paul and patting him on the back. He gestured for me to exit as well. I hesitated and Leah was looking at me. I pushed open the door and gazed up at the towering figure of Paul.

"I'm Paul," He introduced himself, taking my hand and squeezing it so tightly, I felt like my fingers were going to break.

"Nick," I answered. The others, I noted were watching us. I didn't even hear them as they lined up around Paul. They looked like brothers, angry brothers. But the two on Paul's either side looked…younger, like my age whereas Paul had to be like three older than me at least. I could see one other as tall as him that was probably the same age.

"Nice to meet you, Nick," He nodded off to the person to his right then left. "This is Embry Call, and that's Quil Ateara."

I shook both of their hands, feeling the familiar heat singe my skin. I thought I'd be used to this by now, but it was all too weird…I knew my confusion was on my face with these two staring at me. But they shared the same blank look, just watching me, closely. There was….something there though, even with the emptiness in their expressions. Something strained and carefully restrained as if they were holding something back with a supreme amount of effort. And that same effort was being used to make such composure seem easily managed.

I heard the door close behind me and knew that Leah had exited the jeep as well, standing directly behind me. I looked over my shoulder but not at her. By the time I had returned my gaze to Paul, he had reached over and gripped my shoulder, steering me to the last person on his left, the one as tall as him. "This is Jared."

I shook his hand too and he grunted, stepping back into place.

"Come on, let's get you something to eat," Paul offered.

"I'm not-"I began when my stomach gave a noncommittal growl that gave me away. Paul smiled a little bit and began steering me back towards the house.

I didn't have to look back to know that the others were following, I couldn't hear them, but somehow I knew. It felt weird to comprehend that. That they were all standing behind me in formation as if I was going to try to make a break for it. The idea made me feel oddly imprisoned, like there was no escape. That…was wrong, right? I could leave anytime I wanted, at least I hoped so. These hostile, wary faces surrounding me were hardly welcoming. But what was I to expect from people that weren't even my family?

The kitchen was small and cramped with a sliding door that would lead to the backyard. I was in the process of walking towards it on my own to gaze at the sight of a small deflated kiddy pool when I heard a clatter of dishes from behind the tiled kitchen counter. It was a woman with long, shining gray and black hair. She was wearing a gray pullover and loose-fitted jeans. When she spotted me amongst the group, the only one, I gathered, besides Leah that was fully clothed, her eyes widened and she gasped.

I cringed, feeling self-conscious when she whirled around the counter to hug me. I staggered back from the force of it, alarmed. She squeezed me tightly, almost robbing me of the air in my lungs. But it was nice. This one didn't feel burning hot like the others and when she hugged me…I…felt her love. Her deep-seated love reserved for few.

"Ah..Mom," Embry said at the door, embarrassed.

I patted the lady's back and she drew away to capture my face between her hands. "It's good to see you."

"Thanks," I muttered, feeling glad to be released. Paul was pulling a seat for me at the far right end of the round table. I made a beeline for it and sat, while everyone else took their own seats. There wasn't enough chairs. Leah looked murderous when the one named Jared offered his seat. She decided standing was better and so she did, by the doorway, watching all of us.

"Boy, am I glad you finally opened up, Embry," Paul stated to the boy's mother who began bustling around in the kitchen to gather the food.

"Opened up about what?" Embry replied irritably not looking at Paul but closing his eyes and inclining his head towards him instead.

"About everything," said Paul.

"Mm," said Embry.

The table was quiet. Miss Call put several ice cold water bottles in front of us and I was eager to clear my papery throat. Gratefully, I opened it first and took a large swig, feeling the wonderful clear liquid quench my thirst and clear my windpipe of the excess dryness that had accumulated since last night. Parchedness that no toothpaste administered half an hour ago could have fixed.

"So, Nick," Paul started, taking a sip of his own water and setting it down before he continued. "Leah tells me she found you stray unconscious on the street."

It had happened and I think it happened before Paul had even started talking, but the table seemed tense. The whole damn room seemed tense. The atmosphere of this place had become still, as if every living organism here was holding their breath in wait for my reply. I could feel every single eyeball latched on me. Even Miss Call, moving around in her kitchen was suddenly still, her back to me, her shoulders square and unmoving.

"Is that what they say?" I answered quietly, not taking my eyes off of Paul's despite all the uneasiness in the room. I glanced at Leah. _She_ was not looking at me, but at the wall opposite to her with her arms crossed. As I watched though, I could have sworn I saw her head lower a fraction of an inch and back. A teensy nod.

"I guess that's what's right then," I finished.

Paul gave me a steely look before taking another sip of his water. I followed suit and it began a trend of dominos across the table. Everyone did the same. But no one stopped watching me.

"And you don't remember anything before then, do you?" Paul asked in a casual tone, that didn't quite hide his blatant curiosity.

_I don't even remember being on the street_, I wanted to say.

"No," I couldn't look at him then. It was stupid. I realized I hated being on the spot like this. I glared fixedly at my water battle, placing my elbows on the table and holding it up to eye level as though I was inspecting the label. "No, I don't remember anything."

"Not even your name," It was not a question, but a statement.

"No," I said.

"That's sad," His tone reminded me of what I heard last night. With the '_That's depressing.' _I don't know why, but it made me mad. Like he was mocking me or something.

"Yeah, I guess so," I didn't know what else to say.

"Well, thank God for Leah, right?" said Paul abruptly shifting his attention to the agitated girl by the door. "Thank God she took you in. Who knows where you'd be if you were out on the street wandering by yourself with nothing to you."

His statement made me feel like I was a helpless dog. I didn't like it. "Are you saying I can't take care of myself?"

"I'm saying, that's obvious," Paul answered.

"No shit," Quil agreed, speaking for the first time since I met him. I looked over to find those brown eyes cold and calculating.

"I can take care of myself just fine. And if you're going to treat me like some kind of wounded puppy, then…," I began angrily. I was struck with an idea. I stood up and scowled. "Then, I don't need to be here. I can find my own way…Find my…own answers if need be. You obviously know more than I do, and you're not inclined to share. That's fine with me. I don't need this. You asked your questions. I gave you what I know. And it's not much, but whatever."

It was a lame speech. But I was irritated. I didn't care. I began to turn from the table when Paul struck like a cobra, his blazing fingers snaked around my wrist. "Sit down, Nick."

"Let go," I growled, trying to move, but his grip was dangerously hard and I felt if I took another step, he wouldn't let go. He'd let me break my arm or twist it to an impossible angle. "Let go of me, NOW."

"Sit down," He repeated, with more menace. His grip was so _tight_…How was it human? It could _not_ have been human!

"I don't need this," I retorted, trying to control my shock.

He lifted his gaze to meet mine and there was something curious there. " Really, Nick. You amaze me."

"I'm not getting anything out of you guys, clearly," I said, looking around at the table. Miss Call wasn't pleased by the change in atmosphere and she had approached the door which I didn't take kindly too. Leah wasn't my only obstacle out of here? I began calculating the distance it would take to make a frog-leap at the window into the backyard before they could catch me.

"We're the only hope you have of knowing anything. So why don't you sit down, kid?" His grip tightened a little on my wrist and I heard something crack. It was getting painful. "You don't want to do anything….stupid."

"Is that a threat?"

"Sit," He said, releasing my wrist and looking up at me. It wasn't an order this time, but a request. I was surprised at his shift, watching his fierce expression relax into an amused one as he lounged back in his chair.

"You can leave if you want, Nick," It was Jared who said this. His voice was deeper than Paul's. He didn't seem to like being here at all with me, like he'd rather have been elsewhere. But when he spoke, no one said anything to contradict or argue with him. There was silence where I suppose he was expecting me to speak. So he continued. "You can leave. I'm saying that. No one will stop you. But I should let you know something."

From his place next to Paul, he leaned forward in his seat. "What you'll find out there won't be answers. You'll end up coming right back to square one."

"There's nothing out there for you, Nick. Just confusion…and danger. If you want to know who you really are and who you were. You have to start here. That's the biggest clue I can give you. The rest I think you need to get on your own. What I'm offering here…or at least what Leah is offering alongside Seth…is safety. A home. Food, shelter…"

He paused on the last word and it came out almost distorted, through his teeth. "Family."

I locked my jaw and crossed my arms. My wrist felt like it was tingling from the recent loss of circulation there. I couldn't look at these guys, so I glared at the tile.

"You don't have to be afraid of us. Just stick around, kid. Go back to school. Make some friends. Start a life here. Get back on your feet before you start running out the front door,"

"That saying doesn't even make any sense," I said, shaking my head.

"No? Well you know what I mean," Paul conceded.

I looked from one face to another. All of them shared the same look. It wasn't mistrustful, but speculative. Like they were all tired and weary. I was the kid having the tantrum making a big deal. They were the parents that were just giving into the kid's wishes. I felt slightly ashamed for no good reason.

"Okay," I finally whispered almost inaudibly. There was a collective release of breath as everyone seemed happy to see something agreed upon.

I slowly slid back down to my seat and stayed quiet. It seemed like people were waiting for me to talk but I had nothing to say. Eventually the silence stopped being so damn annoying and people began talking. Seth and Leah started making conversation(At Seth's bidding obviously). Jared and Paul started talking about a basketball game.

I couldn't help but notice that Quil and Embry were not talking, but looking solely at me. I opened my mouth to say something to one of them. Like, what? Seriously, you got a problem? Something cool like that. But that died in my throat with my cowardice overpowering it. I turned instead to Paul.

"You said school," was all I said.

"You gotta have some way to occupy your day," He replied simply, but I bet he didn't think I'd catch the little glance he gave Leah that she returned.

"School,"

"Yes, school. Is something wrong with that?" Now he sounded like a parent. "I'll take you up there myself tomorrow and you can start."

"Where is this school?" I asked.

"Forks, Washington. More like down the street. It's not far," said Paul.

"Awww," Seth whined, breaking in the conversation with his high-pitched voice. "Why can't he come with me at the Rez? I've got so many friends there that would-"

And he broke off suddenly. I could have sworn it was Leah, somehow with that tight set of her mouth, because the next thing I knew, he was suddenly trailing his sentence feebly into gibberish that sounded like 'like…him'. I raised an eyebrow at him. He caught my eye and grinned sheepishly.

"We can't go tonight though," said Paul seriously, ignoring the interruption like there hadn't been one. He continued to address me. "Tonight you have to come to a bonfire with us."

In the middle of taking a sip of my water, I paused. "…What's that?"

"It's usually a celebration. Tonight it's in honor of someone," Paul stated.

"Someone who? Some what? Celebrity or something?" I finished taking the swig of my water and was surprised to find an incredulously offended expression on Paul's face. His eyebrows were knitted together in frustration.

"No," He said in a devastatingly calm voice that scared me worse than his iron grip. "Its in honor of someone who died some time ago…His name was Sam Uley."

"Oh," The conversations had ceased and every eye was on me again like they were steeling for my reaction. "…I'm sorry to hear that."

Not a word, not a breath exhaled. Paul spoke. "Yes. Well, I'd like you to be there. It's going to be at the First Beach. Leah will take you there."

He didn't even have to look at Leah to say this or even suggest it. It felt like an unspoken order. That meant, she's going to do it. Whether she wants to or not. I had to look at her expression to see if she actually was going to put up with this. She didn't look like she minded. She didn't look like she cared at all, in fact.

Oh, well. It looked like I had to go. Had to go honor this dead person I didn't know.

I really didn't know what I was doing anymore. Paul said to stay because the outside world was confusing and dangerous. That sounded so childish and wrong. I was grown, wasn't I? Grown enough to know there was nothing wrong with the world outside. I wasn't some helpless little boy or something.

And I was to believe Paul. Paul, sitting here with some kind of air of authority around him. I could see that everyone in this room respected him. Even Miss Call as she placed plates full of pancakes in front of all of us. She placed Paul's plate first. And when she had actually placed the rest of the food in front of us, nobody started eating until Paul finished the piece he had forked out of his stack. I followed suit just because it felt rude otherwise. But it was very weird. Very very weird.

Breakfast was eaten in silence. Nothing but the sound of scraping plates and some unclosed mouths chewing. When it was time to go, I was grateful to be back in the SUV with the Clearwaters. Paul patted me on the back, gave me a sinister look mouthing the word "Tonight." Quil and Embry more or less just stared at me with twin resigned looks…and Jared just nodded in what I thought or at least hoped, to be respect.

Leah was driving minutes later, too intent on the road while I stared out of the window in my place at the back seat. Seth wasn't talking animatedly like I expected he would be.

Apparently this Sam guy really was some hero.

When we got back to the house, I watched Leah almost leave her keys in the ignition, throw open the door and storm up to the house. She was perfect at poker faces, I thought. She didn't look that mad at Embry's house. Seth stared after her with a sigh, glanced at me then opened his own door. I followed him and ran to match his slowed pace. It was going to rain any second. The ominous placement of the white-gray clouds above us seemed to shift right over this whole damned neighborhood.

"She's not too happy, is she?" I asked.

"What else is new?" Seth grumbled, but I wasn't sure that was meant for me. He looked my way quickly. "Don't worry about that. She's going to be fine. She's just a little upset about tonight, that's all."

"Sam?" I guessed.

"Yeah…Sam was her boyfriend," There was a certain hesitancy in his voice that made me think that he wondered whether he was allowed to give out this information or not. Indeed, he looked guilty a second later.

"I won't tell her you told me," I assured him.

He smiled. "No, it's not that. They hadn't been going out for a good while. Sam moved on to our cousin, Emily."

"That's gotta suck," I muttered, though I didn't think I could relate. We reached the door and Seth pulled it open for me first.

He dropped his voice a little. "Listen. She's going through a tough time right now. Don't worry about what she's thinking. It's not anything bad. She doesn't…"

He sighed and looked strangely forlorn for a moment, staring at a stain on my shirt that came from maple syrup. He seemed to give up on the thought he was trying to express out loud and just sauntered inside without another word.

I was wondering what the end of that sentence was.

She doesn't…what?

'_She doesn't hate you.'?_

_Fat chance_, I thought. Then I followed him inside just as thunder boomed overhead.


	5. Bonfire

**Bonfire**

Leah had locked herself in her room and didn't deign to come out for anyone. Meanwhile Seth spent the afternoon teaching me the mechanics of a card game called "War". It was actually pretty fun, until he kept beating me. Eventually he asked if we could start betting money on it. Given that I had not a dime to my name. I figured that was a bad idea.

One thing that was weird was that Seth left the house for an hour. From like three pm to four. He assured me he'd be coming back soon, but then he went to Leah's room and told her he was going to "check around the perimeter." I didn't get it. But they weren't really obligated to explain anything to me. I spent the rest of the day just watching TV even though nothing of interest was on. A marathon of a game show called Family Feud where two families were constantly pitted against each other in a battle of...common sense.

It was six thirty when Leah came out of her room. She was dressed differently, but not better. They looked more like night clothes. A black muscle shirt with no logo and cut-off shorts. When she spotted me on the couch lazily lounging back, her mouth twisted fractionally and the angry set of her eyebrows returned.

Really, what was it with this girl? What was her problem? That Sam guy must have really been important. But I had a feeling it was just me. Before she spotted me, she looked fine. Tired, but fine. Now she looked alert and damn right frightening.

"It's time," She said to me in a bland voice, seeming to ignore my quizzical stare. She walked around the couch, gathered her keys from the kitchen counter and started for the door.

As soon as she opened it, the wind swooped in with a chilly breeze that had me shivering. She raised an eyebrow at me as if she had just remembered something and glanced pointedly towards a coat rack by the door where a few jackets were hung. I plucked the black leather jacket off and wrapped it cozily over the sleeves of my white t-shirt.

As I was straightening the collar, I asked. "What about Seth? Isn't he coming too?"

"He'll be there," said Leah crisply. "Come on."

She lead me to her the SUV. The night was cold with sprinkling rain. I was really surprised she wasn't wearing a jacket herself. But then again I remembered how hot Paul's death grip on my wrist had been and then before...Seth had touched me yesterday and his hand was curiously above average hot too...And when Leah had slapped me this morning...my cheek tingled slightly from that memory.

She drove in silence, her eyes on the road and nothing else. I couldn't help but notice she was gripping the steering wheel so tightly with both hands it looked like she was going to break it. She seemed determined to look so focused on the road that it omitted any idea of conversation. Which was a shame, because I wanted to talk to someone. I wanted to be explained too. And she obviously, even with all of her generosity, wasn't planning on telling me jack.

She pulled up to a parking lot that seemed like a peninsula over the actual beach. Through the windshield I could see the full moon providing subtle light on the waves on the beach. But it was the orange-red light from the bonfire that caught my eye. There was a lot of figures by it. I tried counting. Over twenty, there had to be. Maybe the whole neighborhood. Leah exited the car first and I followed as usual, with my hands in my pockets as she walked the rest of the pavement and then slid down the slope towards them. It surprised me how gracefully she managed it, landing on her feet and continuing to walk as though she had forgotten my presence.

I didn't find this prospect very welcoming.

"If I break my back, it's YOUR fault," I muttered, emphasizing the 'your' in that sentence before I hesitantly took a few steps before I lost balance and slipped down, my right leg and side colliding painfully against wet sand that seemed to have hardened. Eventually my feet touched the flat part and I fell forward, my open mouth taking a fistful of sand.

A strong arm gripped my elbow and towed me up. I looked up and saw the orange illumination focus upon the face of...Embry. He was wearing Leah's exact attire except formatted for a male.

"You suck," He commented while I spat out all the sand.

"Thanks," I muttered, both for helping me and the remark. So the tone came out half-sarcastic, if that was possible. He didn't let me go until I regained total balance of my lanky body. And when I did, he brushed my chest off of sand.

"Why didn't you go around?" He asked, nodding off towards a staircase leading down from the parking lot to our level.

"Uh...," I began, scratching my head. I didn't want to say I copied Leah. "This...seemed more fun."

"Idiot," said Embry, shaking his head. His voice was so light, I couldn't help but smile. Some tension from this morning seemed to have ebbed away, and for that I was glad.

"Come on, we're about to start," He said, turning his body and heading for the fire. I followed him, brushing off the rest of the sand from my jeans as I walked. The light touched my face and the some of the people from the opening we entered, looked back at me. I didn't meet eyes with anyone long enough to fully see their expressions. I wasn't really ready for more of that blatant curiosity.

There was certainly a lot more than twenty people.

I could see the even the adults, at least the elder ones crowed in the back. If I didn't notice the simple everyday clothing, I'd be concerned as to why they weren't dressed like Leah and Embry. None of them I recognized, I obviously. Some looked at me intently, others averted their eyes when I caught them. One in particular stared me for a long time.

He had long white hair with black strands in random places. His eyes were round and brown like everyone else's. And his face was ancient with it's wrinkles. I was surprised through. Despite the fact that he was in a wheelchair, and he had white hair, he didn't look like he was supposed to be the age he looked. There was..._something_ about him. The way he stared at me...Knowingly...Sadly. It made me feel uncomfortable. Like I was a child who had disappointed his parent. It wasn't disappointment though. It was just peering. Time seemed to slow as we looked at each other. I thought I saw him smiling a little when Embry finally reached a stopping point.

It was abruptly serious. The faces of the boys who had breakfast with me were all there, all grim and wearing the same thing. Embry led me to a spot between Quil and him. Quil had some young girl in his lap who was leaned forward, close to the fire, but not dangerously so she could color some Rapunzel princess in a coloring book. The colors were all off with blue skin and indigo lipstick. When she spotted me examining it, she grinned and giggled at me.

I smiled faintly in response, but not too wide. Seth waved at me from across the fire. My smile grew and I waved back. Beside him was his big sister. She didn't look my way.

Paul had stood and was walking towards the center front opening. His presence commanded silence, and so everyone obeyed it. All eyes were on him. He released one long breath, closing his eyes before speaking.

"Tonight we honor a man of great respect and worth in our community. A man who showed great leadership and courage...who died bravely protecting all of us...," No one moved a muscle. I saw some of the gathered females watch Paul intently. Lots were crying, weeping and watching, holding handkerchiefs and dabbing their eyes. I couldn't help but look at Leah. Seth had said that she used to date Sam...But her stone face betrayed no emotion across from my place.

A brief pause and then Paul continued. "Originally we were going to honor two men tonight. One after the other...but.._circumstances_..have altered that."

There was a slight shift in the circle. "It's a hard time for all of us. And I want to persevere. Keep going even in Sam's death. Sam was murdered...by a long time enemy of ours. And though we may have hit obstacles...I want everyone here to know that I fully intend on leading us to a new place...of peace...is what I hope. Things have been chaotic. And I'm sorry for that. But we are the protectors of this land, like our fathers before us. We have an obligation to keep this place safe above any other duties."

"This is what Sam would have wanted of us. It was the future he hoped to create...," Paul's voice had a majesty to it that I had never heard in my short time knowing him. His words of Sam...of the future was moving to me...But at the same time, strikingly uncomfortable. Hearing him speak of this murdered man had me going. Like...like they had to..._do _for this Sam. Murder was a brutal way to die. Protectors indeed. Looking around at the people who were here...Yeah, you could call them protectors, I supposed.

I was the one shifting in my seat now. I didn't belong here. Why did Paul invite me? The people here obviously cared for him. The weeping women, the old men sitting directly opposite from Paul, glaring determinedly at Paul as though he were a Senator convincing people to vote for him.

Paul glanced at the woman next to his place in the circle. A beautiful, petite, tan skinned girl with dark eyes that was clearly older than him by two or three years, but as Paul spoke, she kept nodding. Silent encouragement. He looked her way more than a few times, swayed by her support. Which I wagered, caused the fervor to rise in his voice.

"It's what I want too...In his memory, in his honor. I want to continue his dream," He stopped at last. I was kind of grateful. His voice returned to normal as he eyed everyone, his deep eyes lingering on me for a little longer than anyone else. Or at least I thought so. "Normally I would ask everyone to stand and pay their respects...but I don't want to force anyone to say it out loud if you don't want to...I know I..."

He paused, clearing his throat, and the girl who he kept looking toward got up and stood behind him. She rubbed his arm in a soft motion, placing her chin on his shoulder. Paul finished, though in a hard tone. "I know I can't."

He kissed the girl's forehead, gave her a gentle pat and then turned around to pick something up off the ground. Nobody, including me, stopped watching him. Stepping back into the circle he threw something white into it. I thought it was a piece of paper...but the way the flames slowly edged around it, I realized it was a photograph.

"Let this be a dawn of new memories. New friends...and new beginnings...and in what I hope to be an age of peace," Paul concluded. There was murmurs of assent. One by one, in no particular order, people starting mimicking Paul's movement, throwing old photographs in and stepping back to watch the progress of the burn.

It was Leah who did it. She threw the photograph in. It had to be an old high school photo. Large and rectangle.

I watched the embers move it in my direction and suddenly the dead Sam Uley's large eyes were suddenly looking right at me, his gaze piercing straight into my soul.

Voices...Voices started clouding my head. I saw past the fire. The face that looked at me took shape in the flames. It was the real Sam Uley. His face wasn't friendly, but accusing. And his voice stood out above all in my head, booming and unmistakably accusing.

**_Traitor._**

Involuntarily, I gasped out loud. I didn't know I had jumped to my feet. His voice was leaving echoes in my head...

**_Traitor. Traitor. Traitor._**

Each time the word was spoken, I felt like a loud gong had resounded, pounding my temples with its vibrations.

"Nick?" Embry had gotten up too. I felt pressure squeeze my shoulder. I turned to him, but I didn't want to see him. I didn't want to look at anyone. I couldn't imagine what I looked like to everyone... Because the last echo had laughter...terrifying...maniacal laughter. I grabbed by head by a handful of my short hair on either side.

"Nick!" Someone shouted.

The laughter got louder... and louder. It filled my head, racking in all the hollow spots. My body went ice cold. I tore away from Embry's grip on my shoulder and began to run into the blackness.

Behind me I heard several people calling my name with cries of 'come back'. Like hell. I was getting away from these people. I detoured between abandoned towels and jagged rocks, hoping they weren't following me.

Paul was wrong. I couldn't stay here. I was too weird for them and it was too creepy for me.

I was the freak. The freak that had weird reactions to a memorial bonfire. Wonderful. What a perfect way to show how awesome I was to my new 'friends.'

The laughter was fading now...and I felt myself come back down to Earth...Strange how I ran...Perhaps it came from the fact that the laughter, that cold, heartless laughter didn't sound like anything I had ever heard before. I could feel the ghost of it.

My feet stopped, skidding terribly into the ground. My body gave way and I fell to my knees, clutching fistfuls of sand. I gasped, taking sudden deliberate breaths to calm my accelerated heartbeat. It didn't feel good. Like a battering ram was hammering inside my ribcage, leaving bruises each time it hit. I closed my eyes.

_Come on, Nick. Pull yourself together._

But I couldn't. My heart was still going off like helicopter blades. I breathed deeply, trying to ignore the stinging in my chest as I clambered to my feet.

No wonder my heartbeat wouldn't calm down. There was someone here. I grabbed a handful of my shirt and stood up watching the shadow forming in the moon's light directly in front of me. It's shape was ominous. Large and menacing. It had to be a guy. And he was coming. Instinctively, I staggered backwards...Some lone part of my brain screamed danger.

But he never changed his pace. Just kept on coming. As he came closer, I could see him more clearly, supported by the moonlight shining above. His hair was black, like mine, except it was...shining, spiked slightly in the front. The reason for the hulking blackness was because he was wearing all black. Black jacket, black jeans, black boots. I squinted at his face, but it was too unclear. His shape didn't look too bad from here. In fact, he was about my own height.

He stopped just about five feet away from me. For a moment, we just stared at each other. The cold wind breezed past, sending billows through our clothing. For him that seemed so much more impressive. The scream of danger in my head mysteriously disappeared. I couldn't help but feel awe...awe and wonder.

I opened my mouth to speak to him.

"Nick!" Someone called behind me. I turned my head unwillingly at the sound. It was Embry and Quil standing over an elevated part of the sand, not too far behind me. Both of them looked vastly relieved to see me, but annoyed at the same time. I was close enough to see that.

I raised a hand to acknowledge them. "Here, guys!"

I grinned as they both slid agilely down the slope towards me. Then, I turned back to the black-clad stranger only to find...

He was gone. Not a trace of him in sight. Shock left me frozen for a minute before I trudged through the snow myself to where he had been standing not two seconds ago. Had to be, right? How could he have gotten away so fast?

"Nick, you're such a damn loser," Embry said when he was close enough. "You had us all friggin' going in a frenzy over there looking for you."

"Wasn't that hard to find me, was it?" I countered. " Just had to turn around and walk straight."

"We weren't following that, smart one," said Quil, coming up on my left side. "We were following your sce-"

"Shut up, Quil," Embry snapped quickly. He was looking only at me. "You really got sullied back there, didn't you, Nick? What happened? Why'd you make a break for it?"

I twitched uncomfortably. "Thought I saw something in the fire. It must not like me. Listen I-"

"Hahaaa, you're scared of fire. That's great stuff, man," Quil interrupted with a barking laughter that irritated me.

"Listen," I said with more fervor. "I just saw someone here. Right here. He was standing right here. But now he's gone...Was there a guy at the bonfire wearing all black with like..."

I gestured with my hands over my head to indicate my height and his spiky hair. "This kind of hair...and I dunno maybe boots? I just saw him. You guys did too, right?"

They both looked puzzled and I saw them exchange a glance.

"You saw someone way out here?" Embry asked. I nodded.

"That's not possible," said Quil.

"Why not?" I retorted, not liking the tone of his voice, with it's utter conviction.

"Because anybody who's anybody was at the bonfire," Embry joked, slapping my arm playfully. Reflexively, I raised mine to block it. "But seriously."

"Yeah, seriously. I saw someone," I said, sticking to my guns. "He was right here, he walked over here and he looked right at me."

Embry just laughed, but Quil looked thoughtful. He questioned me. "Was he pale?"

"What?"

"Was he pale?" Quil repeated patiently. "What color were his eyes?"

Sure he was just mocking me, I glowered and crossed my arms. " I don't know. He didn't get close enough to me. Didn't you guys see him?"

"Saw you being an idiot and running away from fire," Quil answered, a smile tugging on his lips.

"Yeah, I'm sure," I said. I stared at them. They really didn't see him? How was it possible that I imagined him? I couldn't have. He stood out like a black crayola in a box of light colored crayons.

"You had Paul all tickled with worry. And Leah, she looked like she was going to offer to get you before he sent us," Embry commented, beginning to turn and looking at me expectantly to follow.

I turned towards where the man had been standing moments ago, giving me the stare-down. But he was gone...I sighed. I began walking with the other two in the general direction I had run from.

But then I registered his words. "Leah was going to come get me? Haha. Good one."

"I'm serious," Embry replied with a frown, and he looked it. "She stood up as soon as you did, didn't you see it?"

"No," I answered honestly. I hadn't been paying attention to much when that voice crept into my head. The thought of it made me shudder.

"She likes you," said Embry. I shot him a disbelieving glance that he returned innocently. "She took you in, didn't she? She likes you."

"Uh, you probably know her better than me, but she has the glare that could melt stone and turn it into green pee, you ever notice that?" I asked, looking from one to the other on either side of me. To my surprise, they both broke out into laughter.

"I noticed it," Quil said through peals of laughter. "But...She also cares for you. You'll see soon enough. She's just going through a tough time."

That sounded like what her brother said. If she was going through such a tough time, then why did she even bother with me? Clearly she could just lighten the load, couldn't she? Why did she keep going through these strokes with me?

"Then why-" I began to ask the same thought out loud.

"We all are, Nick. Don't worry about it," Embry assured me. "She just needs more time than the rest of us."

I didn't quite get what he was answering, so I shrugged. "She hates me...I think she just feels sorry for me."

"No, that's not possible," said Quil, as he cursed and almost tripped over a wayward striped red/white towel. "She doesn't feel sorry for anyone. She's a 'suffer in silence' type. And if she's thinkin' something bout you, Nick. You best to leave it. I mean, think about it. She can be mad, but at least she's taking care of you."

I felt irritated when these words stuck with me. Even though part of me felt like Leah was just doing it for Seth. "You're right. I'm sorry."

"Nah, don't be sorry. Just remember," Quil reminded me. I wonder if he meant his words...or just generally.

There was a silence in which all one could hear was our footsteps against the sand.

"I still think she likes you," Embry said when the silence got too loaded.

I snorted. Within minutes we were there. The fire had been burnt out or trodded on and now there was a huge smoking black cloud beginning to pierce the clear night sky above. The adults had gone, but the breakfast crew was still there. I shouldn't have called them that...They weren't exactly my friends though Quil and Embry seemed to take to me tonight.

I guess in a way they were. If they were so worried for me. The moon still provided enough light for me to see their faces. Actually, that was strange. I couldn't get a glimpse of the black beach man's face back there, but these faces were only a little less lit than they would be in the sun even.

Paul walked up first. "Sure can run, can't you, Nick?"

Seth popped up at his side. "Where did you go? We thought we lost you for a second."

"Just went down the length of the beach close to the other side of the shore," said Embry for me. "He said he saw someone there."

"That why you took off?" He stared intently at me.

"Uh...," I started.

"Was scared of the fire," Quil amended with a commendable pass at humored laughter.

"Really?" Seth said, chuckling. "Way to be, Nick."

My lips twitched but I was looking at Paul who like me, wasn't really buying this whole thing. He shrugged like it was beyond him. Maybe it was. I don't know why this night was bizarre for me and I didn't have an answer for him that wouldn't come out weird.

"I have to take you up to the school tomorrow," Paul said, deliberately choosing to change the subject.

"I know," Don't remind me.

"Be ready. Bright and early at seven tomorrow morning. I'll be there to pick you up...and... Bring a pencil at least, will ya?" He asked as if the normal expectation of me was not to bring anything. He nodded off to Seth." Seth, get your sister. He's back, as I'm sure she's well aware. Nick, get some rest."

He started turning towards the forest-y brush. Quil and Embry copied the movement. Quil lightly brushed my shoulder and Embry clapped me hard on the back before they begin to walk away.

"Good night," I called after them, waving. Soon, the figures around the fire left, leaving only the Clearwaters and me. Leah had her back to me, facing the smoky abyss that was our fire. I watched her look up at the moon once, seem to scoff and then turn towards us.

"Come on. I'm tired," She stated remotely, not looking neither Seth nor me. She didn't wait for us, but started up the path towards her jeep. Seth gave me an almost shy look before he stepped off to follow his sister.

I, meanwhile, looked behind me. I would have regretted it. Maybe I shouldn't have. But I saw him again, standing atop of a raised part of the beach. His silhouette was shifted my way, like he was looking at me.

Matter of fact, I was sure he _was _looking at me. There was that pull in me again. That violent desire to walk up to him, and look at his face...talk to him, hear his voice. I bet it sounded...weird. The curiosity was killing me, winning over my rational side.

But I couldn't let it. I wouldn't. With my teeth grinding together at the thought of Leah and Seth(especially Leah) getting all upset...I turned away from him, following Seth.

_Later, I thought. It's not that late,_ I thought. _I'll come back later when they sleep. I hope you're still here._


	6. Fascination

**Fascination **

It was around seven forty-five when we reached the house. Not too late. Seth was turning in early for school and I supposed I should have as well. I retired to the room they had me in just yesterday night. The bed still had that gurney-esque feel to it when I laid down in the dark, hearing the murmurings of Seth and Leah saying good night to each other.

Seth peeked in my door. "Nick?"

"Yeah?" I said through the dark.

"Good night, man. I really hope tomorrow goes well for you,"He said in a sincere voice.

"You're not going to the same school?" I asked in mild surprise.

"Nah, I'm going to the school on the Reservation," Seth informed me. It wasn't bragging, but I felt jealous anyway. I'd rather have someone I knew already nearby.

"Well, good night," said Seth again when I didn't reply.

"Night," I answered and the door shut behind him.

I was instantly alert, in a sitting position on the bed. Truth be told, I felt a little tired and sleep would probably claim me in a matter of seconds if I tried it. So I got up and walked to the only window in this room and looked outside of it.

I half-expected to find the stranger there. But he wasn't. Placing my hand on the glass, I deliberated my wicked scheme. How smooth was I? There was only one way to find out. I poorly masked a cough while sliding the window open.

Tense for a moment, I waited to see if anyone had heard me. There was no sound. They must have thought I fell off my bed or something. For good measure, I tried to make a "shhh" sound with my mouth as if to suggest I was still on the bed.

_This was stupid._ I sighed and jumped off the ledge to the two feet below. Regardless, it sent a shock up the balls of my feet to the back of my ankles. Eyes watering, I began to limp off the side of the house to the front lawn.

Once the pain in my feet receded to a dull ache, I could fully walk again. I remembered the drive to the beach enough with Leah to know where I was going...

I _thought _so at least.

Rounding off the corner I was sure I'd see the pathway to the beach.

But then I realized, with dread that another two columns of identical houses were lined all the way down. I wanted to kick something. Should I just go down this road and see what lies beyond the next corner?

What was with this neighborhood being identical and nothing special? How was any one house distinguishable from the next? I started walking down the street, angrily muttering about the absurdity of it all. I had school tomorrow and here I was wandering the streets. I should have just turned right around and went home.

But then I saw movement up ahead. It wasn't the scary kind...or maybe it was in the creepy sense. There was a kid. His back was to me with his little white t-shirt and red jacket material shorts. He cowered beside a nearby trucks tire and seemed to be fiddling with it.

Two things occurred to me. Why was there a kid outside at this time of night? And where exactly were his parents? I took a daring step forward and regretted it.

His head perked up like a frightened deer. I saw two pools of black pierce my eyes as he jerked his head in my direction. It was a look full of childish hostility. Like I was a outsider interrupting a very good game. His protruding lower lip pouted and his eyebrows furrowed. With a long look at me, he abandoned whatever he was doing and made a break for it.

"What?" I shouted out loud, realizing I had thrust out my hand towards him as if to stop him. "Hold on! It's dangerous!"

Before I knew what I was doing, I was running after him. But the kid was super fast. It was dangerous. He could get hurt and it was pitch black outside. He ran between cars, looping in and out in a zigzag. But I kept always only three feet behind him, running as fast as my feet could carry me.

" Kid! It's dangerous! What do you think you're doing?" I yelled. But he didn't turn, just kept on running until he turned the corner that I head dreaded turning a moment ago. I crossed the lawn of some random neighbor and saw him continue his sprint. Except he didn't go straight like I expected. He made an unexpected turn at a fork in the road towards the left. Curiosity piqued, I followed him still, this time much slower.

It was the beach or the road to it. The houses faded into wilderness on both sides. Stepping carefully I began to walk the path before me, my eyes swiveling wildness at the blackness in the forest. How ominous.

When I reached the parking lot where Leah had parked earlier tonight, I saw him again. There the black stranger was, staring at the remains of the fire Paul had built. It looked strangely small without the smoke around it, and it made me think it was absurd that all those people were gathered around something so tiny.

This time when I slid down from the sand, I didn't fall. I hit the ground perfectly. I walked right up to him.

He wasn't facing me. But now I could see his face with the moonlight giving off radiance. It made my heart skip a beat at how beautiful it was, perfect.(And this was coming from me, who liked girls) He was taller than me by a head or two. The strangers' eyes were large and black slightly larger than that of the child I followed. His lips were full looked rather white and shadeless in the current lighting. He had high, prominent cheekbones that made me think he was a little thin. His body was nowhere near as bulky or well-built like Paul or Jared. Yet he had his own stance that exonerated it's own type of strength. He had a skin tone only a shade or two lighter than mine. And his hair was just as I remembered it, slightly spiky but not unkempt. From this proximity I could see it had shades of deep red in it.

Everything about him screamed _dark. _That black jacket, those black pants and boots...There was something sinister and gentle about him at the same time. A paradox.

I felt so simple standing next to him. But that was just him. He didn't look anything like Paul's friends or even the adults I saw at the bonfire. His eyes were familiar...Hooded as they were, they_ reminded_ me of someone else. It wasn't that the shape or the color was like anyone else. No one could mimic that. It was what was in those eyes that startled me. The depth of emotion behind them was beyond anything I could describe. Swollen, ravaged with defeat and loneliness. This man had to be only twenty, and yet inside he looked like he was one hundred.

"Hello," I said, speaking first. He still wasn't looking at me, just at the remains of the fire.

"Hello," He answered. His voice was deep and inflectionless. I detected no accent. Not even one that was native to this place like Leah's or Paul's had.

"You're the one I saw on the beach," I commented when he said nothing more and continued to avert his eyes from me.

"Yes," He said simply.

"You gave me a little scare back there. You're not like anyone around here, are you?" I swallowed. Why didn't he look at me? He didn't even give a reaction. "Not like anyone I've seen so far anyway."

Finally he turned the power of his gaze on me. I almost cringed by the unshakable strength behind it. Like he was penetrating my mind and seeing every little thing, every itsy bitsy part of it laid out in front of him. He didn't blink. Neither did I.

Even though, in a staring contest, I felt like I would lose.

That gaze could burn holes into flesh.

His head was tilted though, not hostile. Merely curious. But, he said nothing.

"I followed a kid here," I huffed after a moment. I glanced around, looking away from those mesmerizing eyes and taking a quick once over of the beach. "He was about six? Maybe younger? Wearing a white t-shirt like mine? Red shorts? You see him around here?"

"You don't have to worry about him," The stranger said quietly.

"Huh?" I replied, puzzled. Why not? "But it's late."

"I know,"

"...He could be in danger," I had to say.

The stranger looked away from me. He turned his whole body now, facing the beach. The calm waves that kept hitting the sand only inches away from our feet. The wind had picked up from earlier tonight...and the air had chilled a little. It was a cold front.

Great. A cold front. And I was out here with a stranger.

"He's not in any danger," said the stranger in that same whisper that I almost didn't catch the next part. "But you are."

His words took me back and I patted my chest to gesture myself. "Me? I'm in danger? Why am I in any danger?"

"You...have a lot to learn," The stranger remarked evasively. And he sounded strangely disappointed. He inclined his head towards me but didn't look. "There's much of this world that you don't understand."

"Believe me, I know," I said, successfully sidetracked. I sighed and took a few steps toward his direction so that I was standing next to him side by side, watching the moonlight ripple across the rebellious water. "I think people are gunna get annoyed soon."

"Why?" He asked.

I thought about it. The answer came out honest, which surprised me. It seemed like a perfect cue to turn the answer into a joke. But I don't know why. I didn't want to lie to this guy. He was different...and in any case, he didn't seem the type to take kindly to a joke.

"Because everyone knows things," I said. And my tone came out sad without me wanting it too. I could feel the crease in my eyebrows. "Things about me...They don't want to share them. They want me to think about it all by myself. They want me to get it all back...by myself. And I don't think..."

I swallowed bile and felt an ache in my stomach. I couldn't finish. Because the train of thought was depressing. I was alarmed at myself for being so open and vague at the same time. Open in telling him my problem and vague in what I was speaking of at all. I felt...like he would _know_ what I meant though.

As it was, I was right.

"You don't think you have the strength for that," The stranger finished for me.

"No," I agreed.

It was his cue to say that I _did _have the strength. That's what I expected. It seemed like the cheesy, typical thing to hear. But he didn't say it. I appreciated that. Comforting encouragement wasn't what I needed. This was my mind we were talking about.

My legs felt a little tired. Vaguely I wondered if anyone at the Clearwaters noticed my absence. I hoped not anyway. Oh well, if I was in trouble. Might as well let trouble wait. I turned my back on the stranger and took a seat next to the tumble of burnt wood and charred memorabilia of Sam Uley. Exactly where I had sat earlier tonight before my freak-out.

After a moment, the stranger sat next to me on my left side. I brought my knees up to level with my face and hugged them. While he just had his left knee up with his elbow coolly placed atop it and his other leg stretched out flat. He continued to watch the waves, while I looked at him instead, waiting for him to say something.

"Sometimes depending on other people doesn't work out the way you want it too," He whispered softly. He cleared the lump in his throat and I could have sworn I saw hesitance in that weary face.

"I don't like depending on them," I admitted. "But I have no choice."

"There's always a choice," said the stranger.

"Not for me," I argued.

He looked at me. "You have one too."

I stared back. "My only other choice is to go on the street and see if I can survive. My...friend Paul says that there are no answers out there."

"He said that, did he?" The stranger smirked. "Your friend Paul has a lot to learn too it seems. There are answers all around you."

"I don't see them," I said flatly.

"Hmm," He said, raising an eyebrow and tilting his head again. "Maybe you are not looking hard enough. Or perhaps you simply...do not want to be alone."

"Maybe," I said through my teeth. He was kind of pissing me off with his crypticness and wise cracks. I felt like I was speaking to an old man all of a sudden. An old man who guessed right too many times for comfort.

He was smiling when I looked at him. He shook his head as if it was all very amusing to him. My reaction. The conversation...Everything.

"You are angry with me," He chuckled.

"No," I replied sternly. "I'm not. It's just hard to explain."

"You don't have to explain to me," He told me, the smile beginning to fade. "Who am I to judge a person who doesn't know who they are? You could say I'm the biggest hypocrite of them all if I were to do such a thing."

"What's your name?" I asked curiously, my anger evaporating. I had to give this unforgettable man a name for my own peace of mind.

A wry smile touched the stranger's face like he was responding automatically to my fascination. But it disappeared almost instantly. He looked at me and I looked at him.

"Black," He said, tilting his chin up a little bit as if he was **proud** of the name and he wore it with that same pride.

"Just Black?" I asked. That was a weird name. Yet at the same type, given his choice of color clothes and the fact that they only emphasized the darkness he poured out, it fit.

"Just Black,"

"I'm Nick," I thought so anyway. I extended my hand. He took it. Surprisingly, his hold was just as warm as mine which was startling. I was used to such hot-skinned people. His grip was firm. He tightened his hand on mine then released me.

"Nick," addressed Black. "Do you mind if I visit you from time to time? We can...talk again."

This conversation we just had wasn't much of a talk. But...I had to admit I was curious about him.

"So you are new then? You don't know anyone here? Man, you got the worst luck coming across me as your first people encounter. I don't know anything about this place," I told him, keeping it light.

He smiled again. "So do you mind?"

"Nah man. I need all the friends I can get. I start school tomorrow. It'd be nice to have someone outside of it...to talk to," I considered Leah and Seth and even Paul's friends. I had a feeling repeating what I said to Black tonight to them wouldn't produce good results. He had nothing to do with my memory. He had no secret being kept from me like Paul had. He wasn't pinning his hopes on me remembering without telling me anything.

Matter of fact, my amnesia probably meant nothing to him. And I found comfort in that.

I stood up. Yeah, it was definitely time to go. I just prayed internally that the Clearwaters were asleep. I brushed some sand off my backside and looked at Black expectantly.

"Aren't you leaving?" I asked.

"I'll be here for a little while longer," He smirked up at me. "It's almost twilight. I never miss that time."

"Oh," I said, not sure what twilight was. I started walking backwards, towards the parking lot. "Well, it was nice to meet you, Black. Be seein' you."

"Goodbye,"

I walked up the steps and took my time. I kind of expected him to be gone when I turned around just as he had disappeared when Embry and Quil found me. But he was there when I turned on the last step of the stairs. Standing now, he began to pace along the edge of the waves. He didn't look at me, but I watched him a for a long moment, thinking something would happen. But he kept his cool stride on without a glance my way.

I sighed and continued to walk. The journey home was easier even with all the confusion. My feet just seemed to wander by themselves there. It was so dark...and I was so tired. Once I reached the Clearwater home, I climbed easily back into the window that I left open. To my immense relief, no one else was awake. I threw one leg carefully over the ledge and then the other. Lucky for me, even in the dark, I didn't fall to my loud floorboard. But I crawled anyway towards my bed and climbed in, throwing the covers over my body while simultaneously picking off my shoes. Closing my eyes, I fell instantly into a dreamless sleep.

I woke the next morning to the sound and feel of Seth prodding the back of my shoulders roughly with his two fingers. "Come on, man, wake up. I'm not gunna carry you to school."

My eyelids felt heavy and stung when I opened them. Everything was blurry and I found my position on the bed to be most uncomfortable. I had spider attacked this bed, it seemed. My legs were tacked on either side of the bed with my arms hugging the mattress. A dominating hold, but one that did no good for my back.

"Whaaaat time is it?" I managed to yawn out.

"It's six-thirty. It's still dark out," Seth told me. And I saw he was right when I saw barely any light coming into my window. It was another cloudy, dismal day. I could see that already. The moon was completely gone by the cloud cover. He shook my shoulders again.

"Come on, Nick. Paul's gunna be here soon. Take a shower, hurry. He's not going to wait up for you," Seth's voice sounded slightly intimidated when he spoke of this older boy. I yawned into my pillow and then turned over. This time, Seth jabbed me in the back with his finger and I involuntarily lunged forward, my eyes widened. The act very nearly threw me off the bed, but it got what he was hoping for. Me. Awake.

I heard Seth's quiet laughter before he edged around me just as I whipped over to nick him back. But he didn't appear. And I looked to see the back of his black t-shirt slipping out my door.

Sighing, I threw the covers off myself and swung my legs off the bed. Staggering sleepily towards the bathroom, I flicked on the light and clambered into the shower. The ice-cold water startled me but eventually the warmth that seeped in was welcoming and wakening.

I closed my eyes as the water began to wash away the sweat and strange visions from last night. Were they dreams?

Was that stranger just a dream? Did I really leave the house and talk with him?...It felt like it was. So unreal and bizarre. I felt...connected to this man in some way...But I couldn't be sure. How could I? With no prior memory of him? How could he and I have ever met if I didn't remember it? Yet, I found it so easy to speak in front of him.

When I was done, I climbed out, brandishing a towel off the rack, taking a look at myself in the mirror with the towel wrapped around my waist. My black hair was sopping wet right now, thick and and straight. Kind of fluffy with my two locks curling in towards the middle of my forehead. My hair was a bit longer than Seth's, Paul's or Jared's who all had the same buzzed army crop. But I liked it this way. It made me feel different. I kinda smiled in admiration at myself. My body was so built here. I must have done some working out in a past life. My abdomen muscles were so hard and developed into an eight pack. My chest a strange russet, golden color. I could see the ripple of my muscles on my arms easily, steady veins running down them as I flexed.

Suddenly, all the dread I felt for school evaporated and was replaced with cheer. Today was going to be okay, after all. I turned around to find freshly laundered clothes waiting for me. A black and white jersey for some team I didn't know and blue jeans. Slipping them on carefully, I checked my self again in the mirror. I didn't look too bad but the jersey was a little large.

When I came out, Seth was already thrusting a paper plate with a peace of toast on it.

"He's waiting for you outside," Seth told me, nodding towards the front door.

"Thanks, man," I said, giving Seth a playful punch on the shoulder before exiting. Then he caught my elbow.

"A jacket man. A jacket," said Seth, shaking his head as he yanked it off the coat stand and pushed it into my arms. I wrapped it around myself with my free arm.

"See ya," I said to Seth, opening the door and feeling a wave of cold air blast my face and bare arms, raising the hairs there and giving me the chill bumps.

"Good luck," He answered me from the kitchen counter.

Paul was waiting in this black Honda. I was careful not to drop my paper plate, placing it between my teeth and I pulled it on properly. I pulled open the door and climbed in. Paul looked half asleep beside me, wearing the same tank and shorts from yesterday, or something identical to it.

He blinked slowly to acknowledge my presence. "You ready?"

I sighed. "As I'll ever be."

He smiled slightly, starting up the car and speeding off past the parked cars through the neighborhood. "Listen, Nick. If they give you trouble here. ..Just know. You don't have to stay."

I didn't? "Really?"

"Yeah...These people...they're not...," He seemed to be struggling for words, his lips tight. "They're not on our land. So it's fair game. What happens here."

That was a weird thing to say. "Not your land?"

"Yeah," said Paul. "So if something happens to you..."

"But...," I began uncertainly. "You're coming with me aren't you? How could you not..."

"I can't protect you here is what I'm saying,"

"What would you even need to protect me from?" I had to ask.

"Everything, Nick. Everything,"

He reminded me of Black last night saying I was in danger. Which made me remember, I never did ask him what he meant by that. Suddenly, my heart became erratic and skipped a beat. "Am I in danger?"

Paul closed his eyes for a fraction of a second longer than he needed to as his gaze remained on the dark road in front of us. "You're not in danger. Forget I said anything, Nick. This is your day. Let it be what it's meant to be. Something normal. Fun...Something you need."

I had a feeling he was keeping something from me. But I didn't want to press him. In any case, he looked too strained on the road anyway. The sky was lightening now. The gray clouds had claimed coverage over the sun before it could make an appearance. And the cold breeze I felt earlier had intensified. Thank God for Seth and his intuition about the jacket.

The school was simple, a row of buildings with the simple "Forks High School" sign in front. It wasn't anything special. Paul had turned us into the Student parking lot and was finding a parking spot. As he did, I tried to get a good luck at the students here.

They were pretty normal in their groups of fours and threes, all dressed similarly. It was a small school and it was clear that the Senior class was the majority of the school itself. Which was surprising.

Paul exited the car first when he parked us between a red truck and a silver corolla. He wore no jacket which startled me. I got out too, pulling the jacket closer to my bare skin. He, on the other hand, was completely unperturbed.

He threw me a look over the car before slamming his door and beginning to lead the way towards a set of stairs leading the main office building. I ran to keep up with him and attracted stares from the previous groups of teenagers.

"So what's the story? You're not really old enough to be my dad," I said in an excited voice, barely masking my enthusiasm at doing something likely illegal.

Paul threw me a half reproachful, half amused look. "No, I'm not going to pretend to be your dad. More like your big brother."

"Ohh," I answered. That was buyable. "So I'm taking your last name which is...?"

"Wright," He answered shortly.

I looked right, then left at the row of acorn bushes trailing alongside the sidewalk on either side after we cleared the stairs. "Uh, there's nothing but more bushes to my right."

"No!" Paul snapped irritably. "Wright. Paul Wright. With a W. Your name will be Nickolas Wright. Got it?"

"Got it," I said, undeterred.

We entered the school. The warm air felt great on my scalp which felt like it was going to ice over outside. Now I could feel my brain thawing out, while Paul quickened his pace, turning sharply at the corners with tan colored lockers lining each side and only a classroom between every ten or twelve lockers.

I had a strange feeling Paul didn't know where he was going but he didn't want to ask a student or passing staff member for directions even though many perked up curiously at the sight of us. The back of my calves were starting to ache from the fast walking.

"Do you know where we're going?" I asked Paul.

"Shut up," Paul said.

After another circle of the same hallway with the same ten rows of lockers before he finally lead me to transparent plastic door with the white words "Principal Rex Weltz"

Underneath his name there was peculiar crown with the words "Spartan King" inside of it. Given that there were Spartan banners atop the lockers, I figured that was attributed to the school mascot. But this wasn't his office. His office was to the right of this place. This room was simple. A large, wall to wall desk horizontally placed each with women on calls. I wonder what they were hearing? Maybe excuses from sicks kids. But the lady in the middle, a kindly old lady with white hair tied in a tight bun was the one who caught our attention.

"Yes," She said in a quavery voice, motioning Paul and me over. "I got the fax for your brothers' papers. I take it this is him."

The eye she gave me was so...mistrustful, a rapid change from my first glance of her. Like she was expecting a trouble maker. I had a feeling I didn't fit the description she was looking for, but that didn't really change her mind either.

"Yeah, it's him," Paul said. "Is everything in order?"

"Yes," She murmured. " I have his schedule here."

I took one glance at it. My first four classes didn't look promising. Trigonometry, Chemistry, British Lit, and Economics. The other three were Speech, Gym and Theater I. My electives didn't even sound remotely fun.

"Um," I spoke. " I don't know where any of these classes are."

"That's all right," The lady said with a raised eyebrow. "I've gotten you a guide for the day. She'll escort you between classes."

"Where is-" I began.

"Ah, there she is. Cristina! You're just in time. He's right here," The lady said, looking over my shoulder. Paul and I turned to look at who she was talking too.

It was a girl with long mahogany hair that reached the small of her back in various curls. She had the biggest eyes I had ever seen, set in a pale heart-shaped face, splashed with green and lined with something unreal that gave them a glow...Silver perhaps. The girls' lips were a dark shade of pink. And when she saw me, she smiled, showing two rows of perfect teeth. Her body was slender and delicate and the pink fabric of her jacket clung loosely to a white spaghetti strap that matched the bandana designed white skirt and white sandals.

"Here you go, Cristina," The lady was saying, handing the girl a paper over her desk. "His locker numbers at the top. You guys stay here for a moment. I'm going to get this signed by the principal. Mister Wright..."

Her voice changed, and she wasn't looking at me. She was looking at Paul, battering her eyelashes. "It was nice to see you again."

She took off, flushing red. I tore my gaze away from Cristina to punch Paul's shoulder. "You stud muffin!"

"Cut it out," Paul barked, shaking me off. "Well. You got a guide. You got a schedule. And a locker. Sounds like you're set. I'm gunna head out."

He started to turn away when I chuckled and said. " Don't bother, Paul. She's way out of your league."

"Shut up, SPUDNick," said Paul irritably. "I'll be back at three in the front."

Cristina piped up for the first time. "Oh but...school doesn't let out till four-thirty."

She looked guilty when she said it, holding my schedule close to her chest and biting her lower lip. Like the extra hour and a half was her fault.

Paul grunted. "Four-thirty then!"

He clipped my shoulder as he passed with his and wrenched open the transparent door. Not before I heard him yell. "And don't be late!"

It was just Cristina and me now while the other secretaries worked on the other side. She just smiled cheerfully at me while I searched for something to say.

"So...," I began. "This is a small school."

"Yes," She agreed. "It's only got a population of like three hundred something. But...I'm a little new here myself."

"Really?" Even though that wasn't hard to believe. I don't remember seeing this girl amongst the girl groups I had spotted earlier. She stood out.

"Yes," She told me. "I started at the beginning of this year and this is almost mid-term. I'm really surprised they're letting me guide you."

I grinned and placed my hand on the counter, leaning against it with my legs crossing. It looked cool in my head anyway. " 'Letting you'? Don't you like not have a choice in the matter or is this extra credit that you need?"

Cristina's expression became puzzled. "No...I...I volunteered."

Why? From the good of her heart? "Seems like a tedious thing that'll get you your own late passes all throughout the day."

"No," She smiled. "I have a pass for that. If I'm late, I have an excuse. It's not really a big bother at all. I like being helpful. I like showing people around. It reminds me of my own first day. I was so lost, I remember mistaking the cafeteria for being in Building B."

Of course she wanted to be of some help.

"Oh!" She said, startling me. She zipped closer to me until we were shoulder to shoulder, pointing down at my schedule. "You have the last class with me. Theater I. Mister Alexander is great, you're going to love him."

I opened my mouth to speak, but just then the door burst open sending a wave of cold air from the chilly hall inside. It was a balding man with square glasses and a suit. I guessed the stupid halloween design on his tie came from the fact that it was probably a clip-on. It was the kid he was shuffling inside that caught my attention.

The boy had light brown hair that was almost blond and spiked up. Though it looked like it had either been gelled or he had just come out of the rain. He was wearing a leather jacket that looked much too big for him, but each shoulder of it had black rubber padding with spikes coming out made from the same material. He looked my age, but he wasn't my height either. Maybe it was just me being freakishly tall like Paul and them. He certainly didn't look happy. He looked furious, his thick eyebrows coming together threateningly.

"Again!" The teacher was saying. "Mrs. Cope, did you hear me? Again!"

The old lady who had done my papers came out of the room to the right. When she saw the boy that had been brought in, she sighed.

"Oh my...Not again...," She murmured, shaking her head. "Go right in, Kyle. He's probably expecting you."

This Kyle just shirked off the teacher's hand and glared reproachfully. Without a look at anyone else in the room, he sauntered over to the room Mrs. Cope had just exited, making a thud each time he walked. I glanced at the source. Boots. Of course.. I watched him in some awe at his audacity and when he noticed my scrutiny, he threw me a dirty look.

"Carson. Inside," Principal Weltz's voice spoke dangerously.

He broke his gaze from me and turned stood in the doorway, his back to all of us now.

"Take a seat, Carson," I heard an exasperated voice say. Kyle must have been in the process of closing the door, because I almost missed the next part. "Who's car did you ruin this time?"

There was a shout of laughter and the boy yelling back. "Yours!"

"I have your papers ready," Mrs. Cope was saying, handing them to me. I took them promptly, though my eyes were still on the door that Kyle had disappeared into. When I glanced at Cristina, I noticed I wasn't the only one distracted. Except her green eyes were wide and filled with concern. She even had her hand over her slightly parted lips and was infinitesimally shaking her head.

"Thanks," I said, looking at Mrs. Cope who nodded and sat back down with an expression equivalent to someone who had just finished a day's full of hard work.

"Enjoy your first day," She told me, seeming to forget the mistrust she reserved for me.

"Come on,"Cristina muttered, taking my arm and pulling me towards the door. After a second's reluctance, I let her. We walked out in the hall just as the first bell was ringing. Cristina was distracted again, looking at my schedule. "Okay, I think I need to take you to your locker first. Do you..."

She trailed off, looking over my shoulder and such. "No backpack?"

"Not today. Haha. You can show me at the end of the day when I got stuff to put inside of it," I said, shrugging.

"Okay," She nodded and looked back at the schedule. "Your first class is Trig. That's in Building A."

She started going off in the direction that Paul had come through with me, except she didn't go in circles. She made a beeline right for the door. I noticed she wasn't looking too happy anymore, not as cheerful. Maybe the prospect of leading a lost puppy around all day wasn't as fulfilling as she was hoping.

But then I realized she had looked this way since that Kyle Carson had gotten in trouble. It made me feel a little bad for her. "Are you all right?"

"Hmm?" She answered, opening the door to the outside. I felt a blast of freezing wind that made me shiver. She shivered herself, beginning to speed walk down the stairs to the neighboring building on our left.

"I said, are you all right?" I said again, catching up to her.

"I'm fine...Just a little concerned...," She smiled half-heartedly at me. And her voice trailed off like she was no longer aware of my presence. "I just hope he has a ride home if they send him home..."

"You talking about Kyle?" I said, calling her out of her reverie.

She looked at me. "Oh, sorry. I was thinking out loud. Yes. I'm hoping he'll be all right. It's only Monday..."

"Is everyone at Forks High School so welcoming?" I asked, remembering his glower.

She flushed a little. "I'm sorry. He's just..."

"Let me guess, misunderstood?" I finished.

Cristina stared. "Yes, how did you know?"

"That's always the story," I said with a grin. "Don't worry. I'm not offended. I just know to stay out of his way. Which I'll do."

She led me into Building A which was identical to the previous building except the tops of the hallway walls were striped with red and there were more lockers. I saw students bustling in and out of classrooms and dawdling outside of restrooms. All of them were pretty short, so I guessed most of them here were underclassmen.

She stopped at the last classroom in the left hallway where the silence was nearly palpable. All serious here. I hated math.

"Listen, about Kyle," She said, looking up in my eyes. "He's not really a bad guy...misunderstood. It's not like that. He's just a little.."

"Cristina," I stopped her. "You don't have to explain to me. I told you. I'll just stay out of his way. Us guys know how to handle things."

As it turned out, _I wasn't so lucky._


	7. Oppressed

**Oppressed**

That was gruesome. Standing in front of a class full of twenty some students introducing myself while the teacher moved me to the front and handed me a syllabus. They were doing some hard bell ringer I knew neither head nor tail of on the overhead projector. And after class, Mister Varner, the Trig teacher pulled me aside and told me to read through chapters one through thirteen of the text book I was loaned to catch up.

I knew this stuff already, right? He asked. _OF COURSE I DO_. I've just been at school during my amnesic state.

Moron.

Cristina was there after, when the bell rang and I was the last one out. She was waiting for me, clutching a red and white text book to her chest. She smiled when she spotted me, but the smile kind of faded when she spotted my expression.

"What's wrong?" She asked when I was close enough.

"That class sucks!" I answered fervently. "And it's my first one!"

Without me asking, she took the text book from my hand. That was kind of...reversing it, wasn't it? Dramatically, I placed my hands on my temples and rubbed them like an old man would.

"Oh, you don't understand it?" Her brow crinkled like she was concerned.

"No!" I said.

She continued to look concerned and she began to walk me out of this building, back whence we came. "Well...if you're going to struggle some...I can help you adjust."

I eyed her carefully. " What do you mean?"

She laughed. "Meaning tutoring silly. You don't want to fail, do you?"

"Of course not," I said quietly, thinking about it. "What's the catch?"

Perplexity crossed her features. "Catch? There's no catch."

"There's always a catch," I countered.

"Well, there's no catch today," She smiled and led me to the cold blistering wind outside. I immediately hunched my jacket over my head to protect myself when I noticed she had no cover.

"Aren't you cold?" I asked.

"I'm used to this weather," She answered. "It doesn't really effect me any more. Come on. You might not be."

And she sped up her step so that we were running to the next building sopping wet. I noticed she wasn't the only one 'used to this weather'. There was plenty of people walking normal paced to their next classes, stopping to chat. Then again, most of these assailants had rain jackets on too. When we entered the science building I was soaking wet and dripping. My hair in complete disarray. Sucks. These weren't even my clothes. Leah was going to be so pissed. Without a sun to dry in, I was probably in for it.

"Your chemistry class is straight ahead. Room 128," Cristina pointed ahead of me, pass all the hallways of blue and tables of various science projects outside of the classrooms. The colors attracted my eyes, but I was going to be late and not to mention, I felt a little heavier because of the wet clothing. Cristina looked up at me. "I'm going to be late for Economics, so I'll catch you after to take you to..."

She ran her eyes down her copy of my schedule and poked the spot she was looking for. "British Lit! You're gunna love that. We're reading Beowulf."

"Reading what?" I asked, but she wasn't paying attention.

"I'm going to be late! See you after!" She called, wringing my free hand and running off. With my book, no less.

"Uh?" I said, leaving my hand where she had dropped it and staring after her. She sped through the doors we came through and disappeared. Rolling my eyes, I walked through the hall, ignoring the projects as several seniors passed me on their way. I attracted stares everywhere I went. And now that Cristina was gone, I noticed it more. Every eye was on me. Conversations stopped when I came closer, eyes followed my movement, boring holes into my back.

I was the new guy. The new face. I could see all of their faces were nothing like me. It wasn't like hanging with Paul yesterday. At least we all looked somewhere alike and my face, or even my skin tone didn't stick out. But here it did. It was like walking through a hallway of ghosts.

I shuddered and entered my class.

Chemistry wasn't going to be so bad. Mister Banner didn't introduce me to the whole class. When I entered, he gave me a slip to sign for lab safety and told me sit down. I was lucky, he said. We were starting a new chapter and it had little to no relevance to the previous chapter. Today, they were going over the basics for the new chapter.

The tables here weren't like the desks in the math classroom. These were long horizontal black tables attached to the wooden cabinets on either side. For labs I was guessing. Because each table had two seats. Lucky he put me in the middle. It was better than front.

Class started filing in one by one and I half-prayed the seat next to me was empty. I was certain there was no lab today...come on.

But luck wasn't on my side and a girl took her place next to me.

She was actually quite pretty. In another standoutish way. Her hair was the epitome of goldie-locks, bouncing as she moved. She reminded me of Cristina, but not that they looked anything like. In that their beauty just stuck out. She was taller than Cristina, however. Her eyes were much larger and a deep shade of amber. But the odd shape of them was what made me look twice. They weren't big in the traditional sense. They were much too wide. Yet somehow that fit. Her very pupils core seemed to stretch vertically in a catlike way. Intimidating, fierce. She was the most striking girl I had ever seen. And her pale face, free of any trace of teenage blemishes, was touched with confidence and power. Her lips were glowing with a red as sharp as blood. She was wearing a long-sleeved red shirt that clung to her slender body very nicely and only a white scarf to acknowledge the cold weather which kind of contradicted the black skirt she wore and the boots with white stockings.

And she turned the full power of that mesmerizing gaze on me. Her chin lifted and she raised her perfectly shaped eyebrows. Her voice was deep and vibrant for a girl, which I guessed was reserved for me. It fit her cat-like nature."Well, hello there."

"Hi," I said back, reverting my eyes to the board where the teacher was beginning to erase the previous lesson's work as the rest of the class settled in. I didn't want to stare too long at her. I wouldn't be able to look away if I did.

"You're the one they're all talking about," Her smile was friendly, but it was also hypnotizing. And I had a feeling she knew exactly how dazzling it was.

"You're new," She said.

"Yes," And I was surprised to hear my voice shake a little. She was really good-looking.

"I'm Chelsea Whittier," She told me, taking the initiative and grabbing my hand off the table. Her touch was so warm and electric.

"I'm Nick...," I had to work to find my voice again. I cleared my throat. "Nick Wright."

Her fingers gripped mine tighter and I reciprocated the hold. She batted her eyelashes a little at me. "Nick...I like that. "

"Thanks," I said, lamenting when she released my hand.

"Where are you from, Nick?" She asked, tucking a stray lock of her gorgeous hair behind an ear.

"Um, La Push,"

"Really?' Her eyes widened slightly, intrigued. "That's interesting, Nick. We don't get a lot of people from there going here. They usually go to that school...I forget what it's called...Hmm...You must be...something special."

I have to say, I liked her tone very much. I stuttered. "I-I don't think so."

"Oh, but I do," said Chelsea, leaning closer to me, so that our faces were inches apart.

"I...," I started somewhat lamely.

"Are you afraid?" She asked softly with her breath coolly hitting my face.

"No...," I lied.

"Nick...You should-" She broke off because just then class started and the teacher was calling for attention. She didn't take her eyes off me and I didn't take mine off her either. She winked at me and I couldn't help the sudden heat in my face.

The lesson itself was boring. Just reading out loud. He didn't call on me either, thank the Lord. He was probably sympathizing with the fact that today was already going to suck without him adding onto it.

He did however, let Chelsea read. And it was music. She had such a beautiful, unique voice that I wouldn't be surprised if she was in choir. I'd have to ask her later. I couldn't help but notice she kept throwing glances my way, even as she read. I smiled when she did and I could see her own grin tugging at her lips.

When class was over(with the shortest hour and thirty minutes ever),I stood and gathered the papers I was given in this class to my chest. No book for me today. He had to sign me one. Well, that was all because Cristina had the other one for some reason.

I was about to ask Chelsea what she had been going to ask me when she beat me to the punch with a question of her own.

"What's your next class?"She asked, peering at my stack of papers.

"British Literature," I commented, remembering Cristina pointing it out in the hallway.

"Fabulous," Chelsea stated, laughing. "You have the same lunch as me. I'll meet you outside the cafeteria then?"

"I'd like that," and I meant it. Lunch seating was something I was dreading.

"Shouldn't be too hard to find," She said, tossing her hair back. "I'll see you there, Nick."

She picked up her pink see-through backpack and left the room behind the rest of the blass. It was interesting, because just then Cristina walked in. The contrast between them was palpable. Cristina's dark beauty had a different sense entirely from Chelsea's, except that Cristina seemed to have her own soft glow.

"There you are. Come on. The English department is in the same building," She said cheerfully, making a beeline for me. I straightened my papers again and filed out of the class with her in front of me.

Where was my book, too?

"I wasn't lying when I said you're going to love this class, you know," Cristina commented, looking over her shoulder at me. "My brother, Kyle, has this class too."

I froze and only my legs remained moving. I was sure all the color had drained away from my face. "Your brother? You mean...the guy this morning...He's your..."

"Yeah," She said. She didn't seem ashamed, but her face fell a little anyway. She eyed my expression a little too carefully, curious at my tone. "I'm worried about him right now. But I don't think he's going to class today."

That was a relief. But damn. Damn it all to hell. I had such a bad feeling about that guy. It wasn't even funny.

"You have him for Gym too," Cristina informed me.

Double damn.

"Don't worry. He won't do anything. He just is having an adjustment problem. New school, new people. It's always like this," said Cristina as we swerved a corner and I found myself looking at too much yellow and gold in one. It was an odd contrast to the dismal weather.

"I thought you said you moved here at the beginning of the school year," I said in a hollow voice. He had been here at the beginning and it was nearing mid-term...Who has that much problems with adjusting? With a pang, I wondered if I would have that same problem too.

"We did...," said Cristina quietly But she didn't deign to respond anymore and I could see a crease forming between her eyebrows. It sounded personal.

"Here you are, Nick," Cristina's voice called me out with its briskness, a drastic change from the sullen I just witnessed. She lead me into a classroom, giving a slip to the teacher like she had the previous two times. The teacher was a curly red-haired lady with freckles and glasses. She was young, but that didn't mean she looked gracious. She studied me carefully over her glasses.

"Find a seat," She ordered. I tried to smile but she was already approaching the blackboard, past me. And I hastened to find a seat.

I thought that this was going to be a hard pressed class full of her laying down the law before beginning anything or even introducing me. But as it was, they were in the middle of a specific story that I didn't have to read anytime soon. Today was the pop quiz on some middle chapters. So while the class worked. I stared out from my place nearest to the window.

It was the longest class ever. And it was a no-nonsense class. The teacher, Mrs. Blake, wasn't having any noise. And the students were probably used to this sort of thing. I just sat there and placed my head on my elbows. My thoughts steered in no particular direction and it was rather easy to just close my eyes and have a nap.

The sound of pencils and pens on paper slowly started to fade.

There was a thick veil of fog clouding my vision. But I found that I could still see through it. It was just hazy. I tried to beat the fogginess with my hands but then dropped them when someone began approaching.

Where were we? I glanced around. It was a garage. I could see an unfinished car that looked more like a skeleton right now on tire stumps. I opened my mouth to say something but then the approaching figure came closer. It was a girl. She had her hands in the pockets of her blue hoodie.

At first, I thought it was Cristina. But then I realized it wasn't. This girl was older and much more pale. She had straight brown hair with a widow's peak. Her eyes were a dark brown with unique chocolate colored eyes.

She smiled hesitantly when she saw me. It wasn't like she was afraid. I could see some strange envy in her eyes.

"_You know_," She began, and her voice echoed. She laid a pale hand on my elbow and I looked down at it, then back up at her. "_You're sort of beautiful._"

It was such an absurd statement to hear from a girl to a guy. I rolled my eyes. "You hit your head pretty hard, didn't you?"

"_I'm serious_," She said earnestly.

"Well...," I thought about it. "Thanks...Sort of."

"_You're sort of welcome_," was her reply. Her smile was so warm that it was so easy to smile back.

_**Bella?**_

The last word echoed throughout my membrane for a long time. Instead of growing fainter, it grew stronger. Until I jumped up.

"Bella? Who's Bella?"I questioned loudly.

It took a minute to realize I was in school, in a room where the whole class was looking at me. After a moment, a few girls in the vicinity broke into giggles.

"Mister Wright. I do not tolerate 'napping' in my class," Mrs. Blake snapped from her desk at the front. "If you cannot find something to do, you are free to read from your literary textbook. However I will not tolerate any heads down, is that clear?"

"It's clear," I murmured.

"Good," Mrs. Blake said, looking back down at her stack of graded papers.

The bell rang shortly after and I was still recovering from the dream. The voice at the end...It was so strong and strangely familiar. It reminded me of last night. When I heard a chorus of the word 'traitor' in my head.

Wasn't there _someone _laughing?

I thought it was someone outside in the bonfire, laughing at me being stupid and having a freak-out. Now, I wasn't so sure. It sounded like it was in my head...

_Who was Bella?_

I stayed at my desk, debating this, even as the class was empty all around me.

It wasn't until I felt Cristina's warm fingers curl around my wrist that I woke out of my own internal train of thoughts. "Nick? Nick, are you okay?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine...Just thinking about something," I muttered, scratching my head and looking up at her. "I don't think I'm going to like this class."

"That's what you were thinking about?" She asked, stepping back so I could edge out of my seat. I did so and picked up the new turquoise book that was assigned to me.

"Yeah," I lied, and lowered my voice so Mrs. Blake, still busy at her desk, couldn't hear me. "Seems hard."

"It's not, don't worry about it," Cristina explained, heading to the door with me following. "It's your lunch hour. Mine too. I can show you the cafeteria if you want me too."

"That'd be great," I said, remembering Chelsea. I was relieved to be back in the hallway. " I have someone to meet there."

"Oh you do? Making friends already?" She sounded proud of me.

I smiled wryly at her. "Sort of."

"Who's the lucky gal? Or guy?" She inquired.

"Chelsea Whittier,"

"Hmm," said Cristina thoughtfully. She was frowning.

"What's up?"

"Nothing, nothing," She hit a corner I could see a line leading past the lockers. "This is the line. It moves fast, trust me."

I opened my mouth to speak as we got in line only to hear a couple speaking loudly behind us in what had to be an argument. The guy had curly brown hair and his girlfriend had long strawberry blond hair.

"Why do you _do _that?" He was saying indignantly. "You _always _do that when you're upset...Why?"

But the reason behind whatever the girl did during her upset time, I never heard.

Instead, there was a different voice I heard. It was the same one I had heard moments before while I was sleeping in class.

"_It hurts to think about them_," said the girl. Her voice reverberated like before. I closed my eyes and saw her again. It was different this time, and not just her clothes or her general fragile, slightly sickly appearance. There was an aura of discord between us. She had one arm bound around her chest like she was holding herself together. Her expression was so pained, I felt a flutter of remorse in my heartbeat.

_"It's like I can't breathe...," _She whispered. _"...like I'm breaking into pieces."_

My fingers ached to touch her, to comfort her somehow.

"It's oka-" I began until the next word caught on my throat and I was violently shoved backwards, back into reality.

The voice that broke through my head was shattering, silencing my little delusion. Everything went into a haze of black fog.

_**Mine.**_

_What?_ I asked back, thinking this was ridiculously stupid. I was speaking to...nothing, wasn't I?

But he answered me, this flaming hot male. His voice was not echoing like Bella's. It was loud and everywhere. I felt a gravitational weight push down on my head.

_**MINE. **_ This voice said more pointedly, furiously. _**SHE IS...MINE. NOT EDWARD'S. MINE.**_

"Nick? Nick! Are you all right?"

I hadn't fallen. Hadn't passed out like I had thought. My place was exactly where I left it, standing next to Cristina, except that the line had moved some and she was staring up at me with a concerned expression, tugging on my arm. The couple behind us before was getting impatient.

I blinked and felt my vision blur with hot tears. I felt them roll down my cheeks in a torrent.

"Um," I said, cupping my mouth with my hand as fresh tears replaced the old ones, streaming. "I'm sorry...I just...suddenly felt sad."

"Are you okay?" Cristina asked, shocked. She moved, releasing my arm to grip my shoulder, a commendable feat on her part, given her height.

"I'm fine. Excuse me," I said, shaking off her grip and rushing backwards. I hurled past a blur of faces that gawked at me as I passed. But I didn't last long enough to get a second look. Instead I threw myself into the boy's bathroom, where chance allowed it to be empty for me. I chose one of the sinks with a mirror in front of it to calm down, gripping either side of it like it was my life force.

I looked up in the mirror after a moment's reprieve. My face was terrible, with streaks of tear tracks on my cheeks and puffiness around my eyes. No more arrogance on my looks like this morning.

My heart beat was out of control, erratic and uneven. I seized the front of my jersey and held it away from any contact with my skin. Somehow the notion became familiar, but I wasn't thinking about that.

It was that girl. It was that voice in my head. The laughing one and the mysterious one who cried Bella and then the MINE a moment ago. Probably the same one.

I didn't know what was going on, but the sadness I felt just now was damn near tangible. I could _feel_ her pain then. I could feel it echo inside of me from side to side, tearing down the walls and ripping me apart.

I released the sink and almost fell flat on my face. But my legs staggered faultily towards the stall behind me. My stomach heaved just at the right moment and I threw up. There was nothing much to vomit, just the sip of water I had taken from a fountain an hour ago mixed with my own saliva.

My throat felt dry and papery and my stomach felt like it was on fire. Ironically, though, I felt a little better. The pain was receding to a dull ache in the back of my head, pounding faintly.

I flushed the toilet and closed the door, sitting. I needed a moment. Just a breather. Everything was fine. I was going to be okay. There was nothing to worry about.

_Now go back, before you freak Cristina out some more,_ I advised myself.

That'd do. I began to slide the door open for my stall when I heard the actual restroom door creak open with a sound reminiscent to nails on the chalk board. I slid my lock closed again. I didn't want anyone to see me. I probably looked like...some loser who just threw up and had a little cry.

But my heard plummeted at the realization of who it was through the crevice between the stall door and the wall.

It was Kyle Carson. Eff my life.

Kyle Carson and two others dressed just like him with biker-like attire and they were each taller than him. Except that one, the spiky black-haired on that was kind of lanky, had a wallet chain hanging out of his baggy black jeans. The other, a tall muscular sort with bronze hair had a black bandana, not on his head but around his neck.

"Damn," Kyle was saying.

"Next time, man," said the black-haired boy.

"Shut up," Kyle snapped. "I'm trying to think."

He moved to the same sink I had been a moment before, his hands on either side of it just like me. He was looking, no, glaring at his own reflection staring back at him with a mixture of disappointment and utter revulsion.

"You'll find it, Kyle. Just chill out," said the other boy. "It's not like Weltz was going to let you out of his sight for any amount of time."

There was a strange sound. Like a snarl, but no human could have made it...or at least I didn't think so. But Kyle seemed to manage.

"I'm tired of these attempts. Always a damn attempt," Kyle growled, continuing to glare at his reflection. He sighed and turned around with his back to the mirror, facing his two comrades. "The old snatchy principal is going to send me into therapy if one of us doesn't find those damn old school files."

"If they're even there," the bronze-haired boy interjected calmly.

Kyle threw him a dirty look. "Right. And all our trouble be for nothing?"

"There's no proof that they don't just ditch old student records when the student leaves. Honestly man, if they kept a file on every student that ever existed in this school, it wouldn't be one room...It'd be every room in this school up to the rear with filing cabinets," said the same bandana boy.

"You don't know that, _Steven_," Kyle said, enunciating the boy's name like it was an insult.

"No," agreed Steven "I don't. But, you're the one walking around claiming..."

And the next word was strange, it had to be my own hearing being garbled. There was no way Steven could have said the word 'vampires.'

But the next word was definitely 'exist'. So maybe...it was?

These boys were insane...Great. Lunatics in high school and I was in the stall. I had to get out of here...Suddenly I became aware that if any of them looked at this stall, they'd be aware of the feet underneath the door. I lifted my feet up to stand on the toilet. My feet weren't steady, still somewhat wet from the rain outside.

"...agreed to this a long time ago. I don't have to prove anything," Kyle was saying when I managed to place my palms flat against the walls on either side of me. I missed the last bits of conversation, but it was clearly Kyle scolding. I felt so intrusive and uncomfortable.

"I never said I didn't believe you, Kyle," Steve was answering. "But, if you want to get things done, you need to pace yourself."

"Are you listening to this, Matt?" Kyle asked the other one, clearly. The bigger one. "He thinks I've got all the time in the world. Let me tell you both something."

"Oh no," Matt groaned.

"Screw you, all right?" Kyle answered angrily. "My parents are dead, okay? Their frickin' throats ripped out. Their blood all over the room. It wasn't a bear like the news said. There was footprints. There was just no fingerprints, no other solid evidence. But just because we were out at the damn lakehouse near a forest...they said.."

"An animal attack," Steven finished with the tone of someone who'd heard this too many times. "and that the footprints were probably your parents trying to fend it off."

"And if that was true," said Kyle with blatant fervor. The other two must have made gestures of trying to silence him, but whatever it was, it made him more determined to speak and get through to these two. "If that was true...I would have woken up. I would have heard...something. Cristina, too. And we didn't. No one screamed...and I think..."

He blew out a sigh. "I think they never even got the chance..."

"We'll find them, Kyle. If there are some parasites in Forks, trust me. We're gunna find them," Matt assured him. He sounded further now, maybe he had grown closer to Kyle in the course of his little story.

But now the need to get out of here was nearly frightening. I had to. I was hearing too much. These people were plotting some kind of much-needed revenge on...something. I didn't even want to dwell on what. Because it was impossible. Then again, with what just happened to me: impossible suddenly seemed possible.

I was hearing voices in my head and getting odd visions of a chick I didn't know. Maybe Kyle and his boys weren't even really outside and I was imagining things.

And at that moment, I slipped.

It wasn't in anyway cool. I didn't catch myself and some miracle happened to where the occupants outside my stall cut close to finding me but turned to corner to find the stall empty. No.

I wasn't that lucky.

Instead my legs flew in the air after slipping straight off the porcelain throne. I kicked my own stall open with both feet while landing painfully on my bottom with my rear end and calves stinging painfully.

For a moment, the three boys just stared at me and I stared at them, stunned.

Then Kyle's face contorted with fury and while my stall door was beginning to close, he threw it open again.

"What's this? A little white mouse in the stall without his meat hanging out," Kyle reached down and seized me, pulling me to him. I was taller than him. I remember that and I knew that. But because of the force, he was holding me by the shirt to his chest, while my feet and knees were held limp.

"Come here often?" I had heard Steven be calm and collected for Kyle, but now his face was remote and unfriendly, even though his voice mocked it, like he was speaking to a girl.

"I remember this guy," Matt noted, pulling the bandana away from his neck and pulling it over his face so that his mouth and his nose were covered. He looked like a ninja except that the design on the bandana was a skull, so where his mouth had been, a skeleton's teeth now were. "He's the one who was all balls for Chelsea in my Chem class. It was frickin' sick to look at."

I saw Kyle twitch a little, glancing from Matt back to me, his expression became more lethal. He gave me a little shake. "Is that right?"

"I don't know what he's talking about-" I began helplessly.

"Shut up," Kyle growled. "What did you just hear? How long have you been listening?"

"I didn't hear anything okay? I just...felt a little sick, so I did my business and now I'm-"

"He's lying," Steven remarked, watching my face. " I can see it in his eyes."

"You're lying?" Kyle's voice was calmer. But through that deadly calm I could see the danger under the surface. It was different than talking to the stranger yesterday named Black. Kyle felt more tangible, and his danger did too. He wasn't someone you screwed around with. I had been at this school a grand total of four hours to tell that for myself.

There was a reason why even big Matt listened to smaller Kyle. Because Kyle had something surrounding him that no one else had: An innate predator ability to feed off the fear off the others and make himself more intimidating.

But what was the point of lying, here and now? How could you NOT have overheard such a conversation?

"Wrong place, wrong time, I know," I muttered.

"Yeah, that's right. You know what we do to Gossiping Nancies?" Matt asked me, coming close next to Kyle. He took my ear between his fingers and pinched hard.

"I'm not going to tell anyone what I heard," I said, as if they'd believe me.

"And we're going to make sure of it," said Kyle, releasing me. I slumped away and my back hit the toilet I had just been occupying. His face was thoughtful, a finger tracing his jawline. "What's your name, kid?"

The kid suffix made me freeze. I couldn't have been younger than this guy. If anything, I was probably older. We both must have been seniors. No junior could pull of that aura of authority. But I answered him and my voice came out a little high. "Nick..It's...It's Nick, all right?"

"You're lying, again," Kyle replied, his face mirroring disapproval.

"I'm not," I said, defiance making my voice stronger.

"That's not your true name," said Kyle. But he shrugged. "Whatever. Nick. Listen...We gotta make an example out of little girls like you. I mean c'mon. I got a rep to keep around this bitch of a high school."

He knelt down, and the position mirrored Black last night. With his arm draped coolly over his raised thigh. He reached out to me and I flinched back. But his extended hand didn't recoil or move. Instead he brushed a few strands of my hair away from my forehead and placed his palm flat on it.

"Consider yourself marked. I'll be seein' ya,"His eyes burned into mine and I found that it was impossible not to notice before his relation to Cristina. Those eyes were just as green, but whereas Cristina's were just large in height, Kyle's were larger in width, straight as arrows when narrowed. And right now, they were.

He stood up, the fire leaving his pointed eyes. He nodded to Steven and Matt who just looked down at me with amusement and pity. I felt so embarrassed and weak and stupid.

One by one, with Kyle leading, the three of them left. And I was left against the toilet, feeling more humiliated than I'd ever felt. As if I had anything else to go on though.

I stayed until the bell rang, hoping Cristina was gone and gave up on me. When I exited the bathroom at last, she was there, waiting for me with a concerned look on her face.

"Are you okay?" She asked, taking one look at my face. I wondered if Kyle had passed her here, or if she had been here that long to begin with.

"I'm fine," I answered shortly. I wasn't going to have a girl help me get out of whatever Kyle had in store for me. I didn't know. But it wasn't her concern. Her brother, but not her concern.

She escorted me to the next class without a word. And so on and so forth. I wasn't really paying attention anymore. Speech was boring and stupid. I had to explain who the hell I was again just like in Trig and give a little speech about why I came to Forks High. It was lame and the teacher, Ms. Watson wasn't impressed but perhaps something in my face told her not to push me to elaborate because I took my seat without another word to anyone until Cristina picked me up for the next class.

Gym was lucky for me. It was volleyball season starting and today was just the mechanics. I sat on the bleachers like the rest of the kids while the Coach passed out packets going over the rules and regulations of the sports. I felt a twinge of fear when I saw Kyle walk in late. The coach stopped mid-speech to look at him then back to his papers. Apparently, Kyle was always late.

He didn't seem to notice me from my position in the far right corner of the bleachers. For that I was grateful. He took a packet that had been reserved on an empty seat near the front row and flipped through it carelessly.

When the bell rang, I ensured Kyle walked out before I did, and then I dawdled at the entrance to the basketball court waiting for Cristina. When she showed up, she asked me again.

"Are you sure you're okay? You're so pale. What happened at lunch?" She asked.

"I'm fine, really. Don't worry about it. First day jitters," I told her impassively.

She didn't seem totally convinced, but I could tell she knew I wasn't going to elaborate. Maybe she also noticed it was hard to look at her in the face now. Those eyes so like her brothers...and not to mention a face so much like the haunting girl that had plagued me twice in one day.

She entered the Theater class with me this time. Last class of the day. I was so relieved to just pluck a seat in the back and I hoped Cristina would take one with her friends or something. I noticed she was popular here. Or maybe she was popular in every class, and because she had been escorting me around all day, I didn't see it. But people genuinely seemed to like Cristina.

'Cristina, did you do the homework? Do you know your lines? I didn't study at all!" One red headed girl asked.

"Cristina, can you help me go over this Trig work tonight?"

"Hey, Cristina, I know your busy, but how about that Homecoming dance next week?"(This from a guy)

She smiled at all of them, politely answered some, and gently turned down the jock asking her to homecoming. "I'm not going." she had said in a soft but final tone.

When the teacher walked in, I gawked. It was a man of about forty or forty-one who was balding with only some hair on either side of his head, but the top was scant with nothing. It wasn't his elderly appearance, it was the way he was dressed. A complete replica of Captain Jack Sparrow except with an eye patch. He even had a plastic sheath for his sword. None of the students seem surprised by his look and when he walked to the front, he plucked a large, flamboyant pirate hat off the chalk board and promptly stuck it on his head.

He caught my startled eye and grinned. "Yar. Where there is sea, there is pirates, lad."

"I don't see any sea," I remarked. Cristina took her place beside me.

"I'm putting your books in your locker. It's Locker Three-forty-nine. You'll find it, right? It's in the first building. You know where the front office was?" She asked, under her breath, placing a folded piece of paper on my desk.

"Yeah, I remember," I replied, still not taking my eyes off the weird teacher. I looked down at the paper. "What's this?

She noticed my scrutiny of the teacher and beamed. "I told you, you'd like him. And that's your locker combination."

"Like him? He's...,"

"I know!" said Cristina cheerfully while I pocketed the paper.

There was indeed a play going on. It was such an odd class. The teacher, Mr. Alexander, stayed in the back, with me, his legs up on the desk in front of him and his exposed eye slightly closed in a merry way. He began humming some weird tune that actually did sound like it came from a pirate at sea. Though I knew a little why he was wearing such an absurd costume. The play was about pirates.

A maiden lost at sea(That was Cristina) with her long lost love sailing to find her. That was the jock who had asked her to homecoming. Some boy band reject with too long hair and parted. He ran his hands through it too many times. Cristina looked beautiful in her costume, a white shift trailing down along with a diamond garter and a diadem. Like a queen, I thought.

The homecoming boy was the pirate searching for her. I was here to see the end of the play altogether. The maiden had and her handmaidens were on one side of the ship stage they had pulled out for this and the boy on the other with his mates. He wasn't a pirate, I assumed from the beginning, but his crew had made him so to like the lifestyle. Most of the play was him lamenting about what his love would think of him when he found her. Little did he know though, that she had grown accustomed to the sea life herself, of the adventure. She had even met another who had said her love had died searching for her. And so she began to fall in love with this other man, dressed similarly to Mr. Alexander.

The play was ending with the boy finding his love in the arms of another. He challenged his new rival to battle and a comical battle of plastic swords ensued with the maiden trying helplessly to stop it. Eventually the homecoming boy walked up to his love and demanded she choose between them.

But the other man was persistent. He took Cristina's hands in his own and said.

"Nay, maiden. I love thee more than there are stars in the sky. Choose me. I love thee, and I want you to have me instead of this sea urchin! Let no scruples stand in your way! You shall always have me at your side!"

It was interesting to see her open her mouth and stare at him in disbelief. Cristina really was a great actress. Perfect casting. She was so beautiful, after all.

And when she began to talk, she said his name. Which I didn't catch. Cristina's voice faded into an echo and I heard a stronger, more confident voice speak without accent but strong inflection.

"_I'm in love with you, Bella...**Bella**, I love you. And I want you to pick me instead of him. I know...you don't feel that way, but I need the truth out there so you know your options. I wouldn't want a miscommunication to stand in our way." _

There was a jumble of incoherent words after this that I couldn't decipher for the life of me...and then _her_ voice again.

"_...You're family. I love you, but I'm not **in** love with you."_

There was an unmistakable ache in my chest when I pulled back to reality. Luckily there was no audience to my pain. I was just sitting in the class as the sounds of the students' applause stopped me short. I hurriedly clapped along with them while the particpants of the play all held hands and took a bow. This must have been a big project. The teacher was clapping too and all eyes were for him.

I tuned him out as he gave his evaluation for each character, feeling self-conscious that if they were looking at him, they were looking at me. Eventually he moved to the front of the class and gave a speech. The actors in the pirate play went into a back closet where I assumed they were putting on their regular clothing.

"Life is a stage, kids," Alexander began. "It's a big stage and we're the actors. Everywhere in life, we're acting. Whether for your friends, or for your family. You're not the same everywhere you go. I want everyone to write me an essay. One page. Tell me about some times where you're just playing the part. Be honest. You all talk differently with everyone you speak too. So I don't expect any papers turned in with 'I don't act for anyone.' That gets a zero, class. A what? A zero."

"Class dismissed, try not to crowd the front doors, people," Alexander murmured as the class began to hustle on out of the door.

"You were great, Cristina," I said when she came to my side and picked up her stuff from her desk.

"Thank you," She said gratefully." I think I kind of pushed it on the Scandinavian accent."

"No, I couldn't even tell it was you," I answered, looking up at her, finally after so long. She held my gaze for a moment.

"Well...Do you...-" She began.

"I can find my way to the parking lot," I said, almost rudely, so I corrected my tone. "But thanks. Really, for today."

I stood up and extended my hand to her. "I really couldn't have gotten through it without you. Thanks. A lot."

"You're welcome," She said, seeming not to notice my earlier rude tone and shaking my hand. Her touch was so nice and warm. "If you need any help. My first class is in the same building. I'll help you."

"Thanks," I said again, shaking her hand once more while she began to leave. I watched her leave with a feeling of slight sadness that reignited the ache in my chest wretchedly. She didn't seem to notice my expression's steady descent and for that I was grateful.

A moment later, I walked out, rolling my papers into one little fold and following her out. She was gone when I came outside, but that was expected.

I exited the building easily and stepped out into the rain. The parking lot was in clear sight. I walked down the steps only to feel my foot collide painfully with something hard. I fell forward painfully, my face landing in the grass near the sidewalk and my papers full of rain water and mud, rolled away from my hands.

"You," A menacing voice said above me. "should be more careful on these wet parts. Can't you see it's raining? Step lightly, idiot."

I craned my neck around to see Kyle walking away with the other two, towards the motorcycles chained to some bars. Heat flooded my face, but it wasn't embarassment this time, just pure hatred. He tripped me. And I didn't even see it or him. What was wrong with me?

He was still laughing as his motorcycle started up, splattering me with more mud.

I heard a chorus of laughter around me, but I wouldn't give them the satisfaction of seeing my face, hideous as it was. Instead I got up, brushed myself off(which worsened the effect) and walked into the lot as a whole. Paul's honda was waiting for me.

I entered without looking at him, just glaring at the front. I thought he would be laughing, but he seemed to be looking in the same direction.

"Who was that kid just now?" He asked quietly, eyes forward.

"Kyle_ Carson_," I spat the name like it was a string of curse words. And it should have been.

"Hmm," Paul said, his face was remote when I looked over and he turned his gaze to the window, staring where Kyle and his buddies had been a moment ago. "You all right?"

"I'm fine," Would people stop asking me that?

"Okay," He said without argument, starting the car up to go to what I knew to be the closest thing to Heaven right about now.


End file.
